Job Share response to hol request

[Stargazer75]

I'm fairly new to my jobshare with another lady (I've been there 1 year). She's older, single and no DC.
She loves her cruises and goes on around 3 a year, I cover the days she is absent.

As yet, she hasn't booked any days off this year, but as I have a husband, grandchild, elderly Mum etc, occasionally I book things in advance as have a busy life outside of work.

The other day I asked my jobshare if she could please cover 2 days for me in September as I would like to book annual leave.

She went all red in the face and said 'I just don't know if I'll be available, I don't know when I'm going on my cruises yet'. I could tell she was very annoyed at me asking! She asked if I needed to actually book something such as travel or accommodation etc? I don't personally think its any of her business what I plan to do on annual leave and I think 7 months notice is pretty decent. In the end, in a huff, she just said 'well, you may as well go ahead and book then and I'll let you know closer to'.

My DH needs to book his annual leave to coincide - and we were hoping to visit friends in London who would also book annual leave, but obviously if she changes her mind closer to it will mess everything up 😬

I guess she's pretty much saying 'I'll cover if I don't book a cruise' in effect saying her holiday plans trump mine (unless I'm getting it wrong)

I put my holiday form in to HR, but how would you address this going forward?

I'm not just going to sit back each year, wait for her to book the days she wants, then have the crumbs that are left.

Anyone else jobshare and how do you navigate?

These two replies together explain it much more clearly than I did !

I assumed job shares covered each others annual leave.

Not anywhere I've ever worked. If you were one person you'd be off so no issues with both job shares being off. That said me and mine often try and make sure one of us is around so part of the week is covered, but at times like summer and Christmas we are both off. We would never cover A/L for the other by working extra hours.

Yes@SausageRollsWithMustard I agree also just because she's not married or in a LTR doesn't mean she doesn't have friends.

OP - you are missing the point - your employer should not be making it that your job share decides if you get the time off or not.

This is a line manager not managing you problem - not a job share problem. You appear to have had a number of bad managers so think this is normal.

Obviously for your boss this is the easy option - they never have to ask someone to cover, or sort out agency staff or cope short staffed/cover themselves, but this is unfair.

That used to happen at my place, too, so we switched to a system where management decided who got what. It then became apparent that nobody without kids was getting leave approved for bank holidays/school holidays/Christmas etc. until all the parents had submitted their requests, and then every year the same people (parents) would get their requests and the same people (non-parents) would get anything left.

So we switched and now we do a rota - in theory, because if the parents get called up to do the shifts, they make such a fuss that management backs down.

I'm not saying that this is OP's workplace but if childless people are snappy about holiday requests, stuff like this is why. It's super easy for parents to fall into thinking their lives are busier and more important.

I wonder if you explicitly explaining would help? Like, 'I know you can be a little more spontaneous with your leave, but I am afraid I have to book mine really far in advance because of husband and kids schedules' whether that would help?

FWIW I dont organize my holidays far in advance. On the other hand, I would try to accommodate a job share partner.

I'm sure lots of people loathe working with parents who feel they should be able to take time off for their sprogs' events too.

It was in the very first post, therefore it is inherently part of the thread. It isn’t posters derailing the thread, it is indicative of the OPs attitude towards her colleague.

YABU to imply that because she is single and childless she doesn’t have a busy life or commitments.

If that's truly the case, and you always cover her holidays, I would make it VERY clear that you will never agree to any future holiday dates she proposes if she doesn't cover your very reasonable 7 month notice for your own holiday dates.

Maybe it’s a job where you have to be there - like reception or something. So they need to cover each other on leave.

OP, I think you have given more than enough notice! I’d email your manager with your holiday request and say to jobshare lady that once it is booked you won’t be able to change it.

Yanbu in that you’ve given enough notice and she’s acted so put out by it but… the fact she has no kids, grandchildren, is single etc. isn’t relevant here and I hate it when people try out make out that because someone has no kids or immediately obvious responsibilities that they should somehow be more available to work than someone else.

Some of the replies on here 🤣 Tell me you're older, single and have no DC without telling me you're older, single and have no DC.

When I was younger, single and with no DC I absolutely had more freedom to book things more last minute or be spontaneous, which I often did, whether that be alone or with a friend who was also available. I didn't have a partners AL to consider, didn't have school holidays and pricing ranges surrounding that to consider, didn't have to think about childcare and any leave childminders have advised of well in advance, or family who are providing child care and their upcoming plans. Add to it if you're caring for a relative that you need cover for, it means 99% of the time you CANNOT be spontaneous.

Back then, all I had was me, myself and I to please. Didn't mean I didn't deserve my leave, just meant I had a ton more freedom with my leave.

If you fail to grasp the difference, you've not been on both sides of it.

I am older, married, with DC and an aged parent 😂🙄

And I still think it is crass to mention and consider a person's "private lifestyle" choices as somehow lesser than my commitments.

She's not saying that though. She's saying she has to think ahead more because of specific reasons.
Would I have taken offence to being told I was younger, single with no DC so had more freedom with my AL? No. Did I feel like my AL meant less? No.
Will I be offended when my DC are older, my partner will be lucky enough to have retired and I again have more freedom, and someone who is in the position I've been in for years needs more time to plan? Nope. Will I think my AL means less? Nope.

It's offence over nothing 🤣

Bitter much. You are not entitled OP take your holiday when you want. Fuck her, she should be faster off the mark.

We seem to have the same sort of arrangement... I do 3 mornings, one does 2 mornings and an afternoon, the other does 4 afternoons... the way it works with us is that you cover on days you don't already work, so you only do half days.... so if I work Tue, I don't cover Tue pm lady, the other one covers. Unless there is an issue for her, then I'd cover if I could.

The way it works out here is if you don't cover others leave, good luck getting cover for your leave.

It really is common in small retail places to do it this way. I worked in 4 different ones and the boss has always said "sort it out between you, someone needs to be in..." so basically if you don't sort your own cover, you don't get to take that time off.

I don’t think arranging cover is your responsibility here..

Not at all obvious. One of my older single colleagues who worked part time joined us direct from a great full time job in the States, which was an odd decision in our industry. Some months later we discovered the move was to support her oldest friend through terminal cancer, which she was too distressed to mention at work untill after the lady sadly passed away. We often have NO IDEA what's going on in people's lives and have no business making assumptions about their commitments, or lack of them.

I would expect your line manager to arrange the cover not your job share. Assuming you have your specific days then she may have commitments on those other days that are none of your business.

You Have no idea who she has to consider. People may have caring responsibilities or siblings the have additional needs etc.

You can't claim she has no one else to consider. You have no bloody idea and it is very offensive.

I'm unmarried (have a partner) and have no children. I have 5 people to consider in most of my annual real due to other family member's difficult circumstances. You have no idea who people are responsibilities for or what caring responsibilities people may have. Even if they don't, it does mean your need are higher ranking.

The annual leave is your legal entitlement. If you don’t arrange cover for your leave, your just has to deal with it. You’re being ripped off.

Besides if you work extra to cover someone's shifts then you accrue additional annual leave for those shifts.
And if they fall On a bank holiday... 🤯🤯🤯

Your mistake is asking. It surely is first come, first served. Why are you running past her first. I would just mention in passing oh I've booked holidays in September as its already a done deal. Same the other way, I'm sure she's not running past you when she wants to book a holiday.

Seems like a strange arrangement for annual leave. Book all yours well in advance as you have quite a lot going on and she can book her dates in when she’s decided on the cruises. If it’s not possible for her to book later on as there’s not sufficient cover then that’s up to her. HR and management can’t then turn around and ask you to amend your dates if already approved in advance. You were trying to be polite and she’s being a bit awkward.