Company wants me to pay back holiday days.

[Mooshamoo]

I started in a job in November 2022. We have an online annual leave system .
At the start of January 2023, 21 days on our online system became available to me for me to take.

I asked my manager could I take two weeks off at the start of the year. I took the last week of January and the first week of February off. This was approved by my manager. I took them. I was then moved to a new manager. Which was the way the company worked. New starters were with one manager. After two months you were changed to another manager

The company was pretty abusive and at the end of February I decided to leave.

I left. I then got an email from my second manager saying I had taken more annual leave days in the time I worked there, then I had accrued. And that I have to pay this annual leave money back. It is 550 euro. I'm in Ireland. This is a lot of money to me as i am now in between jobs.

Can they do this. My first manager who approved the annual leave days, never told me that I did not have enough annual leave days to take. She approved them. She never told me at any stage that if I left the company that I would have to pay these annual leave days back. If I had known that I wouldn't have taken them .

Can they do this to me now?

Also in my contact centre if an advisor gets stuck on a call, we offer overtime or time off their next shift. But they have to let a manager know otherwise we wouldn't know and yes it would be unpaid.

This is one of those threads where the Op is refusing to accept that they might be wrong.

Sorry I was replying to someone else. Yes we have all explained to our managers that none of us are able to take breaks. Ever.

Yes we use a system where we log out of available and log in to break on the call center webpage. While I am put in break on the call centre webpage I am still working on the tech system.

Having worked in a call centre, surely everyone knows the trick is to have that last call take longer so you're hanging the call up at finish time, that's what I did.

How do you not just have a button on snapper, or whatever call system you use that says unavailable? Just finish your call, click that and take your break/do your admin.

I know call centre work is tough, but you sound like a 16yo doing their first job not a mid 30s adult. Did you not read your contract? You are legally entitled to keep a copy of your own contract so not having access to HR now is a moot point, you will have been sent one for your own records.

My shift finishes at 5.30 yet I am told by my boss that I must answer a 15 min call at 5. 28pm. So I must stay an unpaid half an hour later. And you're saying that it's my choice?

i know it feels as though we are / I am digging on you but we are trying to help you here, for your next job.

You must learn to be more assertive. So. It was only since November. You know when you worked. Say you did an average of 3 days per week where you worked the extra half hour. I am bolshy and feisty so i wouldn't probably be in your position. But if i were? I would counter any claim for money they made on me with a claim for 1.5 hours worth of overtime for every week i had been there, and one hours worth of overtime for every day i had worked due to not being able to take breaks.

And then see what they say.

But, FGS, join a union now. And get a new job.

Yeah, having worked in call centres before, I’d have asked whoever was on the call to hold while I did the admin. Our rule was as long as we went back to the customer every 30 seconds we were okay.

Ours also auto connected after we terminated the previous call, but we had a “wrap” button that you had to use before the dial started (ie straight away) and the next call wouldn’t connect.

This is true, my sister was the same and God forbid you hang up on a call, they come baying for blood.

I've worked in other call centres. This one goes above and beyond any abuse I've seen anywhere. It's unreal.
I do try and make the last call last longer. But you can't control what a customer does. If they want to hang up they will. So then you get a new call at 5.28.

I'm going to point out to my manager all the times I stayed late and worked a half hour unpaid.

I am sorry this has happened to you but yes you owe them the money back. A tough life lesson for you to learn.

I would offer them payment back in small instalments - 50 a month. If they don’t accept it then just put away 50 a month anyway and if it comes to them taking it further - ERC in Ireland - then you can show you have made efforts and have saved a sum.

The abusive workplace stuff is really by the by. It’s not impacting this

OP if it's as bad as you say then you were right to quit. Someone needs to contact a union and take action. This is horrible

They'll just deduct the money from her final payslip.

Completely standard - they don’t have to warn you.

Yes. The amount of holiday entitlement you have is for the whole year! Of course it is! What on earth makes you think you're entitled to the same chunk of long holiday in a VERY short time period as someone who has to spread it throughout a whole year?

She’s already had her final payslip. She quit on her last pay day.

Usually there is a clause in employment contacts that dictates what happens if you take leave that you haven’t not earnt yet and leave. So you may say you were not informed but I expect it’s in your contract? Have you checked

Of course, they locked you out. You don't work there. That's also pretty standard.

Also, it would otherwise be a good tip for always remaining on holiday- start a new job, immediately take all holiday entitlement, quit, go to new job. 😜

She’s already had her final payslip. She quit on her last pay day.

I missed that - unfortunately that does make it all look planned and a bit dodgy really 😬

so you have to tell people on the call to wait - and if they want to complain here is the managers phone number or email

I think you may find they will want the money back for the two days you have been paid for for the month if you left Friday, as well as the money for your notice period if you didn’t work it.

People have assumed you are young because you are writing things that make it appear that you have never had a job.

• you apparently didn't know that working in a call centre would involve taking constant calls
• you thought the best place to keep your personal paperwork (employment contract) was the work computer you don't own or control and can't access without permission, you also didn't have the sense to retrieve your personal paperwork before breaking your contract and leaving with immediate effect.
• you thought that they'd just give you free days off that you haven't accrued and not expect you to pay them back.

You sound like a 16 year old in your first job.

I imagine it would be in your contract about holiday accrual and that they would deduct any taken holiday that has not been accrued. If you haven’t had your final pay then it may be deducted from this. If it amounts to more than your final pay then they may put you on a payment plan, we do this at my work and if it is not paid then it goes through to debt collection companies. It would be unusual for management to have to explain the holiday accrual/over taking holiday to employees as it should be contractually stated. As previous posters have said, once you start work they expect you to be a permanent employee and not leave within a short time - regardless of poor staff retention. It’s unfortunate that you have ended up in this situation.

Yes but they never informed me about any of this at any stage.

Surely it is their responsibility to tell me that if I leave the company I will have to repay these hours.

Is this your first job? How do you think it works? Otherwise we could all join a company, have two weeks off, then hand notice in and move on to the next.

You have been very naive.

and she was paid for feb but left on the 24th, so probably has been over paid as well - most companies pay to the end of the month, just a little early - so thats 2 extra days you have been over paid

I don't get paid a week in hand. I get paid monthly. I was paid on the 24th February for February and I left on the 24 th February .

I don’t know the law in Ireland but in the U.K. they can do this yes.

don’t you have a contract of employment that sets this out?