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?

You are wrong and an idiot. If she is new and less senior than you she either has the same or less leave than your annual entitlement.

Clearly she will be running low on her allocation soon enough - making this a non issue. It is none of your business whether she takes it in one chunk or in measly portions throughout the year. You may find when all of your colleagues book leave for the summer/ xmas period that her running out of leave means that she is able to provide cover for her absent colleagues.

It sounds like you are pissed off because she didn't consult you first - ask her to let you know in advance out of courtesy but she owes you nothing.

@JudgeRudy honestly I'm not going to compare myself with anyone working in the NHS. It's really not the same as in the private sector, where if you don't deliver your business is going to go under.

I have no right to be consulted. Yes, it did piss me off one Thursday when I found out I'd be doing it all for her the following week again. Because I was already stressed and just needed a normal week. It felt too much but it needed to be done.

I actually think I know you and yes you do, you are begrudging someone their annual leave and then trying to justify it with poor performance which their direct line manager hasn’t picked up on. Mid year is coming up or just been for some private industries hasn’t it? Hmm funny that

OP, but this is exactly you getting rubbed up the wrong way and leaping to respond.

I’m sorry, but in many workplaces, there is an unpleasant sense of unofficial hierarchy and people trying to lord it over those who are younger or newer…a pecking order.

It often exists in workplaces which lack formal procedures and policies or those that don’t have good worker rights or those aren’t established clearly. This can be around sickpay, annual leave, training etc. In such places, management might not have put in place proper cover for those who are on keave, to allow training or cover if sick pay, without it all falling on those already in work…so adding to their load. This isn’t appropriate or normal in good places of work. But OP, Perhaos you don’t know it if you haven’t worked somewhere else. So rather than be annoyed at management you’re annoyed with the new colleague because she is impacting you….but that’s due to the management more than her.

The reality is, you haven’t spoken directly to her about your concerns. You also haven’t spoken to management about the lack of procedures or your concerns. You are simply telling us..strangers. Have you not told management because the work culture isn’t conducive to you raising this and you’re concerned about being a troublemaker or seen negatively? Have you not raised the issues with her about performance because you don’t know how to do it professionally because you haven’t been trained to do it? Are you cross with people on this thread as you feel criticised and cannot understand the norms of processes and work cultures because they just don’t reflect the culture you work in?

It is likely you have become part of the culture you are part of. It has rubbed off on you and now you think the lack of process is normal and that you should have to cover your new colleague and pick up from her, but feel aggrieved that she’s taken leave….management might prefer you to feel this and unofficially police (or what some might see as bullying) her to change her behaviour, rather than management setting up processes which might cost them time and effort.

My comment was meant for @Abitboring

This is the thing. You think she should consult you. But why should she…when that is not company policy.

You are annoyed because her going off meant she had to do her work for the coming week. Yes, that’s annoying…but it’s not down to her is it…it’s down to management not having systems in place to mean keave I booked in advance and communicated in advance to those impacted, and enough cover available to deal with it. Your focus of annoyance shouldn’t be on her….and it’s that which has the potential to become bullying. Your focus of annoyance should be on the systems and management. The fact you’re drawn into e-bikes g annoyed with her and feeling she should have told you/consulted you about the absence shows you as part of the unprofessional work culture…and probably part of the problem inadvertently.

@Abitboring You're miffed off right now but probably will not care by next week.

I suspect you'll be laughing to yourself when she is frazzled and strung out because she has no leave left come the autumn / winter period.

Seems unfair to be burdened with extra work AND a bad mood whilst she is off having a great time. Just let it go.. she has taken what she is contractually entitled to. You don't get gold stars / enhanced bonus' for not taking leave.

@WombatChocolate yes, a lot of what you say resonates.

What are you talking about? She's applied for annual leave using the formal defined process and it's been granted. If this is having a negative impact on her training or it's somehow unfair for colleagues then the system for granting annual leave should be looked at or it's the bosses fault for grating it. It's not your colleagues fault if she's taking her permitted annual leave and following policy/process.

And how do you not know how much annual leave she gets. It's not going to be more than about 5 weeks is it? So she can't possibly have that much more to take. And the annual leave should be about the same for everyone and set out in the employee handbook.

As apposed to a patient not receiving the correct treatment and their health worsening....or dieing!
Teaching is similar. If theres no-one to deliver that lesson that's a major problem. I'd say both were on a par with the KPIs of the private sector.

@WombatChocolate by 'consult me' I just meant that I have no say in whether or not someone gets and takes annual leave. I thought it would be perfectly reasonable to just give the one person you work with all the time heads up in an informal way.

Well, I'm all sorts of things. I have had some useful advice here that hasn't been personal and can be out into action.

I’m in the private sector, where we have targets to deliver or the business will go under etc. But we still don’t discuss or organise our leave with colleagues. Someone else’s leave is no concern of ours. I do training as a small part of my job, and if someone is on leave, I do the training later, when they are in work.

Because things like annual leave are negotiable.

And maybe she’s opted for a lower salary in exchange for more leave -whatever. She’s got a contract that will say how much leave she gets.

But surely you can see it's organised in a completely different way?

@Idlovetoknow you sounded very unpleasant there. I don't know you. Actually wonder if you are a troll.

Abitboring, I get that this is difficult for you.

In likelihood, you work in a toxic work culture that has deliberately not established proper processes because they would cost the company money. The norms in your company of not having proper leave taking arrangements and allowing anyone to take leave when they want, with the management not dealing with how that will impact other colleagues, is difficult. Long term colleagues might have learned to work around it and. Ow tell each other in advance and are very careful about them. They book leave, as they have to informally consider each other….although there is nothing official to require them to do that. But a new colleague won’t know what might have become unspoken rules.

And it might be that your work culture isn’t friendly to you approaching management to point out the weaknesses in their systems or that a colleague being away puts intolerable strain on you. Perhaps they don’t want to hear that stuff as then they’d have to do something about it, so they make the culture such that you know very clearly your comments wouldn’t be welcomed. So then you do t address it with management no get annoyed with the new colleague. But that doesn’t solve it does it. You have to take a step back and get some perspective.

Maybe you could email HR (do you have HR at work?) and ask them what the leave policy is and point out that currently things are quite tricky. Don’t name your colleague or put blame in her…this isn’t the issue. The issue is not having a clear system. Explain that currently it can be the case that you only find out a day before someone goes on
leave that it’s happening and that you have double the work to do. Ask if there’s anything to be done about it and you don’t feel you should be doing 2 people’s work.

Unfortunatley, lots of small businesses operate like this. If someone is sick or on leave or hasn’t yet been replaced, existing colleagues have to do their job too. It isn’t the fault of those who are sick or on leave etc. To a point, these things probably have to be expected a bit, but the question is where the limits lie.

what’s there to troll about?

I’m a real poster, my other thread is about Disney world 🌎

how would you know you don’t know me, this is an anonymous forum? What I will say, I am aware of a person very very similar to you, describing a style of micromanagement and feigned grievances very very similar to what you have here also at mid year point. Some details have been changed but the rest is eerily similar. Eerily.

@WombatChocolate again, much of this resonates with me. I hadn't thought of it like that. Your insight is very useful.

This isn’t appropriate.

I am flabbergasted by how unreasonable you are in your OP, ABitBoring. You couldn't be more wrong than you are!

I'm so glad I'm not you nor do I work for or with you, as your way of thinking and how you are blaming completely the wrong people, is astonishing.

YABVU.

@Idlovetoknow which part of what I wrote do you perceive as micromanagement?