Always on annual leave

[Abitboring]

I have a relatively new hire (but not direct report) who has been in the job since January. She took annual leave in February, April, May and June. Always about a week and always a 'holiday', so not family stuff etc. It made her training slow and difficult as there was only one full month she worked in her first five months of employment. There's been a bit of 'sorry, just got back from annual leave' as an excuse for one thing or another. It also made me wonder whether she's going to do this every year now and will effectively work part time a few months in a row.

I wouldn't mind as much if she was fully competent in her role, but she isn't. I find her a slow worker and I need to remind her about a lot of things, which I feel I shouldn't have to do if she just kept a list or something to remind herself what needs done when and how.

AIBU to be annoyed?

Talk to the manager about the training instead of putting it on your shoulders.

This should be sorted by them not be your responsibility.

Propose a plan and get them to agree then they wont sign her leave.

If you dont then her leave her choice.

@Abitboring
She does not work for you; she works with you. If the person or organization paying her salary is not objecting why should you?

If you request for time off is being denied ,you would have reason to object. However, this does not appear to be your business. If she is underperforming , that is a situation that her supervisor should address.

As long as you are paid as agreed for the job that you perform and are given leave as stated when you were hired, what goes on with other employees should not be your concern.

If you are truly upset, it may be time to look for other employment in a place that you might be happier.

Yes, but I honestly don't go in every week to find out if I need to do her job as well the following week. It's just adding to the things for me to keep track of because people can't think beyond their own little world. I already need to remind her about all sorts of things she should be doing which is exhausting and not fair on me.

seems it's a systems running error and not an annual leave error. Everyone is entitled to annual leave and many people work to live (in their own bubbles) not live to work.

Reminding her to do things for her job is separate from her annual leave and there should be steps in place to deal with this

sorry @Abitboring by "exposure time" I mean that your new colleague will have the hours I mentioned as exposure to work on familiarisation of the business process with you, listen to your advice, take notes, it's being immersed in the knowledge sharing experience so that by the end of your series of meetings/training sessions the colleague should feel a lot more confident in what is expected of them, what you want them to do and what you will be holding them accountable for including any time-sensitive tasks so they don't become a blocker or bottleneck in your process - as the process expert you get to call the shots and tell the colleague how things need to be done.

As someone who actually lost annual leave last year because of cancelling due to training and compulsory team away days, I can see her point.

Your colleague is on leave that she is entitled to, the system is at fault not her.

My colleague and I must have been unprofessional for years. We would let each other know in advance when we were off and the other would have to cover the essential tasks.

This is excellent advice. Never heard of it before. It would make total sense to use it as an opportunity to summarise all the important bits I tell her along the way and leave room for questions etc. and perhaps agree on a few things. Thank you!

Managers hire staff so that they dont have to do the "work" their job is to make sure the work is done.

There is a standard clause in most contracts along the lines of "do any other task I am quallifed to do as per business needs " so anything you are able to do becomes your job once your boss gives you the job to do.

Due this anybody who is in a preformance managed environment should agree a task list at the start of the year, any task added during the year is an out performance and should lead to a bonus for the extra work done. If that job is added to next years list the employee should be using that addition to get a pay rise.

An employee who uses the annual leave she's entitled to is not working part time. She'll be off the same amount in the year, you'll do the same amount of cover. Presumably she will do an equivalent amount of cover for you while you take your holiday.

Have you tried asking her to let you know her holiday dates? That seems the easiest solution. Maybe send her yours and tag on the request for hers?

Everyone is entitled to annual leave and many people work to live (in their own bubbles) not live to work.

whilst I love my homelife as much as the next person, I have always worked on the basis that the first few months in a new job are all about creating a good impression, doing everything possible to convince the employer that you're someone to be taken seriously. If all people do is walk around in a bubble with the "work to live not live to work" attitude no wonder when pay review time comes they are bitterly disappointed, and even more so being passed over for promotion. Whatever happened to wanting to make a good first impression these days?

”Let each other know” is different to ordering someone to do your job for you while you are away - unless the colleague is your manager or someone else who organises the workflow. That would never happen anywhere I’ve worked.

You may also find a bi-product of these sessions is improved cooperation - the social contract: she can do her job better and quicker due to the time you've invested, to some extent there's a sense of obligation there to pay-back the support you've given.

To be honest it sounds like YOUR manager is doing a poor job, at the end of the day it’s not up to you to arrange cover (I’d imagine this is a managers job).

Id voice my concerns to your senior and say I’m trying to train up X but due to her AL requests it’s taking longer then usual. We might need to think about making sure cover is arranged for when X is off and leave it at that.

I feel like you’re being asked to do more then you should and getting bogged down with it.

I’m really glad you’re planning to take some time off yourself. You’ve had some good advice on this thread (in amongst all the non-so-helpful opinions) and it looks like you are taking that on board.

Keep the focus on the real issue, which is her poor performance and unreliability. She sounds… flakey. Not informing the person who needs to cover her leave that she has leave coming up is part of that. But it’s one example of it, not the real issue.

I’d establish some norms with her “I need to know when you have leave planned so I can plan cover, shall we agree to always give each other at least a week’s notice?” . And document it along with everything else you repeatedly have to remind her of

but doesn't this just show that office culture differs from workplace to workplace? I would be confused if any of my direct colleagues contacted me to tell me when they were going on leave, because we all have individual caseloads so it has no impact on me whatsoever. Similarly nobody else would care how often you took leave, in what increments or what time of the year. We are all trusted to be adults and just manage our time ourselves. My last few jobs were the same, so if I was coming into yours, or OPs type of job I wouldn't even think of telling anyone about my leave unless it was explained that I needed to do so.

Workplace norms/needs differ from place to place, which is fine, but the onus is on the company to make it clear to new starters rather than expecting them to magically know how things are done without being told.
It's a training/managerial/lack of oversight issue rather than the individual.

Abitboring people are giving you a hard time on this thread, I dont really get why. Your colleague disappearing on hols, frequently, without any notice would frustrate me too.

She sounds like she is coasting a bit but also you need to get more assertive. In your shoes I would

1. raise the disruption with her manager and confirm how much annual leave she still has left.
2. ask her in writing to notifying you when she requests leave so that you can plan training
3. tell her you feel she isn’t where she should be at this point in her training and that you need her to be focused on this over the next few months.

You sound like a work place bully Op.

the employee is entitled to annual leave, most places have a system so you physically cannot book off more hours than you’re entitled to.

it is for her direct line manager to have the conversation if it’s making training difficult. Then a policy should be in place around limited annual days whilst on probation etc.

you sound like the type who gets rubbed the wrong way (easily) then would conspire to put said person on a PIP to manage them out. Maybe the type who doubts if sickness is legit too? I’ve been in places that thought bereavement wasn’t an excuse to take more than 1/ 2 days off. No one likes that manager, don’t be that manager

This.

All this responsibility with the basic courtesies from this new hire.

Kindly meant OP but it sounds as if your boss is very poor and you are being made a complete mug of.

You need to start taking your leave and handing this flaky employee over to your boss.

All of the responsibility and none of the perks.

You need to push back hard.

You sound like you could be getting burnt out.

If you do, it will be on you, as that lazy boss won't have your back.

Time for some push back.
Mind yourself.

But why would you be frustrated if them taking their leave was perfectly within company policy?

Comoany policy should exist to allow the business to operate smoothly and to enable everyone to perform their jobs. It isn’t up to individuals to choose their leave to suit other colleagues or to predict what will be best for the business. People who feel like this, often work in poorly run businesses where the management don’t have clear and proper policies and instead place all the burden in the employees so they informally establish cultures (often bullying) which pressure people into putting work first via peer pressure.

It is not up to the new colleague to make OP’s job easier by not taking her leave. It is up to management to ensure enough staffing exists. If they haven’t established procedures for applying for leave and authorising it, which means all work can be done without anyone becoming over-burdened by the absence of another, that is their failing and not the new colleagues.

Wow, now I sound like a bully, whilst you make all sorts of assumptions about me and don't seem to think twice how it might come across. Who is the bully here?

You sound like hard work. She's requested AL and her boss has authorised it. I doubt she has interest in anyone elses leave so has just requested what she wants...and its been granted. If you want to know her schedule why not ask her. It's unclear what her role is but if she really needs to do one full month with no breaks tell her. She's not a mind reader.
The fact thst you haven't brought this up with her or your boss but have posted here makes me wonder if you're a passive aggressive type. You certainly seem to have anger directed towards her. How is this manifesting itself?

It would never cross my mind to inform colleagues when I’m on leave, or my manager etc. Likewise, they wouldn’t inform me - unless it’s just part of informal chit-chat. It’s no-one’s business. The process whereby you ask for leave and it is granted, or not, is nothing to do with them. I wonder if you’re the best person to do this training. Can someone else do it?

@WombatChocolate because I have had more work on my plate for 4 out of 5 months due to the AL, training and still keeping everything together. I know it's within policy. I could also do all sorts of things that aren't against any policy, but I wouldnt get my job done at the required quality. I wonder what kind of jobs you all do where such things wouldn't impact you.

I'm not sure it is. If colleagues become your friends you might discus it but unless you're in a senior role I would feel the need to inform people. It might cone up though planning meetings or something specific. I've experience of NHS (clinical) and Education. No idea who'll be 'covering' me when lm off.