Want a holiday but 16 year old can’t get leave

[Irishmama100]

So my 16 year old has a retail job, 8 hour contract and has been refused leave for when we went to go on our summer holiday. Can’t leave them at home on their for 11 nights

1)I am unreasonable - I should just scrap the idea and no one in the family gets a holiday.
2) I am not being unreasonable - I Should just book it anyway and they can quit and get another job

Ds worked part time throughout uni and wanted to quit his work in 4 th year, I was worried about what potential employers would think but when he landed his graduate job they said they admired him for quitting it as it showed focus and determination to get a good grade for his degree.

Dd has a part time job approx 12 hrs a week, I just booked the holiday and she went and told her boss that her mum had booked the holiday and he reluctantly granted her the time off, she’s also booked a week off later in the year, she said if he doesn’t like it then she’ll quit and find a new job, it’s all students bar 3 staff that work in her restaurant. At that age hospitality jobs re an easy find.

I'd say either phone home sick, or tell them very frankly I'm going on holiday on these dates. You can approve the leave and find cover for that single 8 hour shift, or I'll be handing in my notice and you'll be finding cover for a lot more shifts until you can hire and train someone new.

As a retail manager if a sixteen year old told me she had to have that time off or be left at home alone I would absolutely move heaven and earth to make sure it happened. Are you sure she has explained properly? I’ve had teenagers look for time off and said no only to find out later it was for a big family event and I found a way to cover her. Teens are understandably shy about pushing back after an initial no. She’s only doing eight hours, if she fell sick they would have to manage without her, no one is that indispensable.
If it was my child and they still said no, I’d tell her to quit.

Not allowing a 16 year old working 8 hours a week to take a week off with a couple of month's notice is the sign of an UTTERLY FUCKING SHIT EMPLOYER. And if they quit it will be dodging a bullet.

The main lesson I'd want my DD to learn would be to treat it as an example of when an employer is being unreasonable and taking the absolute piss.

TBF I'm not sure many 16 year olds are silly enough to believe all that guff.

I would have quit this job at 16. This is ridiculous. Unless this is their dream career then I would tell them to stuff that job up their $$$#. Edited to add that I quit any job that treats me like crap. I have had over 30 jobs in my life and I have consistently earned over 100k a year for the past 10 years whilst also job hopping for better salaries and work conditions. Im also a mentor in my industry for younger people and I advocate for standing up for yourself and creating a work life balance.

Employers want it all their way they don't like swapping shifts but I bet if they needed someone to swap a shift they'd be doing it.
It's an 8hr job they're 16 plenty of time to find something else and you can offer something meanwhile in the family business don't knock the family business route at least the work they put in there is for you and your family and you're not just making money for someone else and at their whim get them to hand their notice in 2 weeks before it's on them then they either cover the 8hrs and allow the holiday or they have to cover the 8hrs weekly until they can spend time recruiting and retraining a new member of staff.

I’ve worked in a supermarket before and getting Saturdays covered was nearly impossible. Anyone who wanted to work them already did.
I also remember having to take a sick day when I didn’t get annual leave for one of my last university exams. They knew exactly what I did, but understood as I never took sick days and was reliable apart from that.

I think the best case scenario here is for the 16 YO shift to be given as overtime to somebody else. If they can’t do that, then they’ve proven they’re really inflexible and I wouldn’t want to work for them any more. I’m sure they’d rather keep her to cover for other staff over the holidays than lose her for the sake of one shift.

My jaw fell to the floor reading some responses here 😂

If employer can’t grant one Saturday off in retail (with notice) then that’s their problem. Foolish of them to rather risk losing an employee every Saturday than for the employee to miss one solitary Saturday all summer. Their loss (stupidity!).

16 y/o should obviously quit. They have a family business they can work in or a multitude of other jobs. They have decades of their life left to work. Why the hell is anyone suggesting they miss out on a family holiday over an 8 hour contract & pittance wages at 16 years of age!

If you are in the uk then your employer was breaking the law

You are allowed annual leave.

About 45 hours a year for an 8 hour contract. About five Saturdays plus a half day off if the hours are all worked then.

Employer can dictate up to a point when it is taken, but they can't stop you taking it altogether.

My daughter had a similar situation last year, though she was 17 - nearly 18. We left the choice to her, and assured her there was room on our holiday and we could get flights for her if she changed her mind, but she didn’t want to leave her job over it. So, she stayed and caught the bus to work whilst we were away. We rang her daily. I think she was surprised to find how much she missed us, and found the empty house unsettling. She was also sick at work for one shift and had to come home. It was certainly an experience and she felt it was a really valuable experience and helped prepare her for considering things like university etc.

My retailer boss I can name and shame cos it was 20 years ago didn’t give me a day off for my Uncle’s wedding. House of Fraser. It was a Sat Sun and Thursday evening job. Sadly I couldn’t quit I was a student at uni and needed the job. I missed the wedding.

Just book it. If she wants to go she can tell them that mum has booked it and she will be off or she could ring in sick.

I work in retail and l've been refused a single day's holiday in the middle of a block of 10 days 'because we don't have enough cover'.
For a four hour shift.
The options were, don't take the holiday (not an option), either get someone to cover my shift (which l did) or take it as unpaid (which l have done in the past).
It's ridiculous. We're expected to manage with minimum staff when people phone in sick, but they make problems when you give them notice of holiday, months in advance.

I think you can instil a great work ethic in your child and also teach them that loyalty Is earned, and companies that don’t value you don’t deserve your loyalty. I’d support my child to call in sick on this instance, and say you shouldn’t care if they are suspicious, if they treat part time underage staff like this they should expect them to take the piss.

Tell him to call in sick or say he has d&V. If he works retail then he is not allowed with D&V . Ridiculous that he can’t have the day off so will spoil everyone’s holidays.

I’m so glad you’re going to go with them, a teenage part time job is not worth missing out on spending a special time with your family.

It really is quite weird of the employer not to approve leave for a 16 year old who works one day a week. They employ 16 year olds because they are cheap but then they have to put up with things like this.

They should definitely quit their job just ahead of your family holiday and get another one afterwards. Wouldn’t be surprised if the same place is advertising a vacancy 😁

Please don't teach her that work is the be all and end all of life. Good work ethic yes. But it's. 2 way street. Employer being a dick. So eff that.

It depends on your child. If he's happy to stay at home alone, I'd let him be. I'll be cooking for a week to leave frozen meals and will be calling every day but at 16 with a job, I wouldn't think is a problem.

However, it really depends on how much you trust your child, their level of maturity and independence. Not all 16 y.o can be left alone unsupervised for 11 nights.

Good on you. 🤗

Dear God. An employer that does not let a very young staff member take leave from a casual job versus possibly the last big family holiday you might all take together before your teen flies the nest.

Quit the job. Take the holiday. Find another job.

Never - EVER - allow a mindset where the employer's will trumps real life. I had that mindset for nearly 50 years and got screwed by my employers every which way.

Don't miss out on this family holiday time with your kid because you'll NEVER get it back.

You're overthinking this and making it a bigger problem than it needs to be - noone's morgage or career is at stake over this. You sound like you've got a strong work ethic that you've already instilled into your kids. Now your showing them that there are difficult decisions to take in adult life and that spending precious time with family is also important. Let them resign in good time and do right by their employer - then enjoy your hols!