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?

Your manager is taking the piss. Book your leave as you are entitled to, regardless of how far in advance it us.

inform job share and manager you are going. Up to your manager to get cover sorted, not you!

I don’t understand this, can someone explain.

OP books the time off and it is approved by HR.

The Job Share decides that is the very week she is going off on a cruise. So when she tries to book the same week off, won’t HR just say no you can’t, Stargazer has already booked it?

Or will Job Share 3 just be expected to cover everyone?

If she is normally ok i think I'd have one more attempt to discuss this with her before taking it to your manager, maybe via email rather than discussing. It's possible her reaction was unrelated to your completely normal request to book some holiday in a few months .

Something like "Sandra, I need to book some of my holidays a good few months in advance. I felt you were upset when I talked about this the other day, so what should I do ?"

Actually scrap that. If you weren't in a job share there would be standard procedures for booking holiday so just ask your manager what you should do.

But honestly many folks book all their holidays for the year in January, don't let her feel what you're doing is unreasonable.

It wouldn't work like that in a lot of companies. Technically you probably don't have to ask a colleague, but I do anyway as I believe it creates a nice environment. I wouldn't say to a colleague 'no, you can't take leave then' even if I had planned something myself. I'd try and talk about it to make it work for everyone. Works in a lot of jobs too.

This is how people with family think.I am better than you and have more to do.You can shift for yourself o single person

Or other people

It's very unfair if you can't book leave 7 months in advance without your colleague agreeing to cover.

I think you need to talk to your manager about this.

Abitboring · Today 18:47

No, you don't. If you have kids at 30 you don't know what life without kids is like at 40.

This has to be up there with the most ridiculous comments I've ever read here and that's saying something.

Pray tell, how is life without kids different at 40 compared to 30? I didn't have my kids until mid/late 30s. Does that make a difference?

I actually smiled when I read this post, it's so ludicrous.

This is how people with family think.I am better than you and have more to do.Youcan shift for yourself o single person

This isn’t a parent / non-parent issue. This seems to be one person planning in advance and another being pissed off because they want to be spontaneous. Would be the same issue if a single person wanted to book a holiday a long way ahead to make sure they get a spot before it sells out and a parent wanted to wait because they don’t yet know when school events are that term.

Just book your leave in the normal way, once it's approved it's approved surely? She probably went red because she's annoyed you pipped her to the post with getting dates in. You snooze you lose 🤷

That's ok. I don't mind you not understanding where I'm coming from. I somehow don't believe you are open to trying to see my point either so we will leave it at that.

not your problem you booked first so you sould gt it-wheter or not she fanices a cruise later on isnt your concern se'll ave to go another time

saying tnat i know someone in a small company whose boss didnt hire anyone after a employe left essentially making it a jobshare situati9on which they said they had to cover each other-my friend said she couldnt commit to that as she had other commitments on her days off

stingy emplyers whho cant be bothered to hire extra astaff are the worst

Oh god I wouldn't want to have to beg colleagues just to get a day off, especially when they think the whole year should be kept open just in case they want to go on a cruise. Talk about fucking entitled - I'm baffled that some people seem to think the OP is the one with the problem here.

Book your days off with HR and then if she wants to book the same time she'll just be turned down. If you have to ask her to cover you then I assume she has to ask you to cover her - and you can just say no you can't as you have that time off already yourself.

Abitboring · Today 18:59

Well @Everythinggreen my cat sitter wouldn't commit 7 months in advance as she has a personal life too plus two jobs. See how many people there would be to consider in that chain?

I can understand why people plan 7 months in advance. But I don't understand why you would put a colleague on the spot with 7 months notice and expect an immediate yes or no. It can all be talked about and the OP could set a nice boundary and say 'I will book it in next Tuesday if I don't hear anything from you'.

This is so utterly unreasonable! Why the hell should the OP wait for her colleague, who currently does not have anything booked, to come back to her by next Tuesday and potentially say, "I'm booking a cruise then, you can't have the time off?"

You are letting bitterness cloud your judgement!

Abitboring · Today 19:24

That's ok. I don't mind you not understanding where I'm coming from. I somehow don't believe you are open to trying to see my point either so we will leave it at that.

The point is, you don't have a point! You are literally talking nonsense!

What's your holiday policy? I've job shared before and if we were both off we were both off. Job sharing doesn't mean one of you needs to be permanently there.

Massive eye roll

Well, the OP said she did ask the colleague. So let's assume it was a genuine question I think it's reasonable to give someone a moment to respond with regards to a couple of days in 7 months time. I know I'd go and look at my calendar or think whether there was something I was planning that's not on top of my head.

But you are right. The OP wasn't asking but merely telling.

The situation sounds a mess. If this role was being done by one person then the company would have to cope without them for 4/5 weeks a year when they took annual leave. Them insisting part time people work full time hours some times is bound to cause issues.

YANBU on the point of your post though, if you're organised then get it booked.

And you are entitled to your opinion. I'm not taking that away from you 😉

Why does her al trump yours?

Just book your holiday in with hr.

Had OP's post not been dripping with contempt for this older, childless woman with no life outside cruises - in contrast with OP and her fecund vibrant busy life - I would have said YANBU...

She's just annoyed you've booked it off, so far in advance. But it's first come, first served with annual leave. Just hand it in to HR, you'll get it off. She won't be able to go on a cruise at the same time as your holiday. Nothing to.worry about.

Not entirely sure of all the hate is about. You are checking that she has no plans on a couple of days in September, not asking her permission.

You are a little unreasonable by implying your personal circumstances trump hers, but that is how all people with children come across so its hardly crime of the century. Whether you think she should be more flexible, is irrelevant? Is she free to cover those days? Yes- fine you can book your leave, personal circumstances don't come into it.

If a random 2 days in September are so important for her she would have booked it by now.