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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Company wants me to pay back holiday days.

562 replies

Mooshamoo · 28/02/2023 09:55

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?

OP posts:
WaddleAway · 01/03/2023 14:33

Mooshamoo · 01/03/2023 14:06

Say if you've taken annual leave, and then you want to leave the job before six months, what can you do? can you suggest to your employer that you work some unpaid time before you go?

Usually you’d just take the hit on your final pay packet.

BadNomad · 01/03/2023 14:37

Mooshamoo · 01/03/2023 14:11

I'm in discussion with them now about going back. I asked them can I go back , I'll see what they say..

I owe them so much money I can't afford to leave. Both directions feel awful I don't want to go back. But I literally can't afford to leave ..I don't want to be in huge debt to them

That's good! Just make sure it is a continuation of employment, rather than starting new. You don't want to be starting over, i.e. accruing annual leave afresh, which would mean them taking money out of your pay. You just want to continue on until you've accrued enough to cover what you have taken.

Snoreboar · 01/03/2023 14:39

Jetstream · 01/03/2023 13:05

Another thought is that the company’s records will show lack of breaks and other breaches of the working time directive and other legislation. All the more reason to push back against them

Is there not a duty of care to ensure your staff are aware of their opportunities to take breaks and to insure they take them?

JudgeRudy · 01/03/2023 14:46

Mooshamoo · 28/02/2023 10:02

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

I was a bit naive as I had been off work for a while. So when I saw I had 21 days available to take, I just thought I could take them at any stage of the year.

I asked my manager could I take the annual leave at that stage. Surely she should have said : you only have so much annual leave built up, so you can only take 2 days?

Why let me take two weeks?
And why not inform me at any stage that If I left the company I would have to repay these hours.

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

If I had known that, I wouldn't have taken the annual leave.

They didn't inform me of that.

I'm pretty sure they did inform you. They might not have explicitly reiterated this when you booked your leave but you'll have been told. Think about it logically, if you had 21 days pa and you took 21 off in January and then left would that seem fair?
I bet your on line system tells you all this, you've just never bothered to read it. Nearly all organisations annalise leave and you accrue it pro rata. 21 day pa and your only employed for 6 months, then you get half your allowance. Many places actually measure leave in hours so if you always work 7.5hrs that's your day, but your part time college might only get 12 days holidays pro rata, but that's 12 x 7.5hrs. If her days are shorter it will be same smount of days off .

You really need to brush up on this because you'll have same issues elsewhere. Also note that Bank/Public Holidays are usually pro rata too so if you start a job near Easter it might seem you get a run og days off. Leave before uou very earnt them and you'll have to pay back.

WisherWood · 01/03/2023 14:49

I really think MN needs some sort of banner header on threads, in flashing neon, along the lines of '25 PAGES IN AND WE'VE COVERED THE BLEEDING OBVIOUS SEVERAL TIMES NOW'.

JudgeRudy · 01/03/2023 14:56

Mooshamoo · 28/02/2023 10:21

I'm not saying I don't owe them the leave. I'm saying if I had known I would have made entirely different decisions. Do you think if I had known , I would have quit my job and have no income and have to pay them back hundreds of euro. I genuinely didn't know. And now I've quit And now I've put myself up shit creek. And now I'm having a really awful day realising this. What have I done to myself. I could cry. I wish I could go back last week and think about it longer and not quit. I genuinely didn't realise

If it's such a shit place to work they might take you back, particularly if you've had training. Another option is to offer to 'work off' the money you owe them.

You say you would not have made this decision had you understood your leave entitlement but you did pack up your job without one to go to so I'd say it's possible you would have.

In the meantime bang in lots of applications and do some freebie on line courses.

Jetstream · 01/03/2023 20:47

Snoreboar · 01/03/2023 14:39

Is there not a duty of care to ensure your staff are aware of their opportunities to take breaks and to insure they take them?

Show quote history

Yes but the company is failing to allow employees have breaks.

Testng123 · 01/03/2023 21:56

Op are your breaks paid? If not, you could make the point that they owe you for them

rwalker · 02/03/2023 05:48

Testng123 · 01/03/2023 21:56

Op are your breaks paid? If not, you could make the point that they owe you for them

Should of been raised at the time not months later
it the equivalent of unauthorised overtime doubt any company would fall for that

Snoreboar · 02/03/2023 06:49

Jetstream · 01/03/2023 20:47

Yes but the company is failing to allow employees have breaks.

Show quote history

I know - but some posters would like to suggest that the company weren’t responsible for this.

Testng123 · 02/03/2023 23:09

Should of been raised at the time not months later
it the equivalent of unauthorised overtime doubt any company would fall for that

She is in Ireland - you have 6 months to bring a claim, or 12 months in* *exceptional circumstances

Testng123 · 02/03/2023 23:18

The WRC can give employees information on workplace rights around breaks and pay etc

059 9178990
0818 80 80 90

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