To think my probation shouldn’t be extended because I took a week of annual leave?

[668r]

I’m currently in my 4 month probation period of my new job. I’ve been there 9 weeks so far, and had tried to hold out on booking annual leave as long as possible as my manager hadn’t mentioned me taking any annual leave and I wasn’t sure if it would be frowned upon to take it when I’m so new. However, I’ve been there 9 weeks now so have technically ‘earned’ 5 days of annual leave when I look at my entitlement for the year. I can also feel myself feeling a bit burnt out and in need of a break. So I asked my manager if I could take a week off in just under 2 months time, it will be the week before the end of my probation period.

My manager agreed and approved my leave, but mentioned that HR will probably want my probation period extended another week to cover this additional week?

Is this normal or should I be worried? I’ve not come across this in jobs before, and thought that I should be entitled to take the annual leave I’ve accrued so far without it impacting my probation.

I've had contracts with probation periods that lasted a year. It would have been very strange if I had not been able to take time off for an entire year.

To be honest, I find the kind of scorekeeping from a company a red flag and I'd be putting feelers out for another job. Your current employer sounds very inflexible.

It's probably also easier to leave during probation than later than later down the line. Remember that the probation period is not just for you. Your employer is on probation with you as well, especially since the job market is currently still in favour of the employee.

Maybe 'burnt out' is too strong a word, but surely after 2 months+ it's normal to feel that you need a bit of time off within a 4-month period?

I'm not burnt out after just 9 weeks... But I can feel that I need a break soon.In my last job it was so stressful asking for annual leave and it was made out to be a huge burden so I would put it off for ages, and I ended up properly burning out after not taking annual leave for 8 months. I don't want the same thing to happen here; so I have asked to take 5 days off in what will be my 15th week at the job.

I did check with my manager and she said it was fine to take holiday during probation.

Also no I didn't tell my manager I'm "burnt out", I just said I'm trying to book a holiday and asked what their policy was on taking leave during probation and they said it was fine.

In the OP I said 'I can also feel myself feeling a bit burnt out and in need of a break' - 'a bit' being the part to draw emphasis to. My previous burn out in a previous (toxic) job has made me very sensitive on recognising the signs of when I need a break, and as much as I'm enjoying my new job I know myself and know that I'll definitely benefit from some time off within a 4-month period. Other new starters in my cohort have had time off already for context

I think it's fair enough. Four months is quite a short probationary period already. Burnt out after nine weeks? Is this the job for you. That's quite worrying.

Of course it's normal to take holidays in the probation period. Depending on when the leave year resets, you may miss out if you don't because you will have pro rata leave in the first year and may not be able to carry it all forward.

This is not the job for you if you need a break after only 9 weeks.

You sound like you're seeing probation being extended as some kind of punishment. It isn't a big deal. If you are meant to do 12 weeks of probation and you take a week off it makes sense it would be extended just to cover their terms. It isn't a negative or a judgement on you for taking leave.

yes, this. Surely most professional jobs have probationary periods of at least 6 months to a year, it would be completely impractical (and illegal!) to expect people to not take leave during this time.

Not in places I have worked. Sometimes the probation period is a year. You can't expect someone not to take leave in that time. Or even if it's 6 months organisations have preferred leave to be spread throughout the year to all being saved up until the end.

I expect it's standard. Much easier to extend by the amount of leave taken than make a judgement on each person

Probation periods go two ways.

Now you know that you work for a company that likes to punish people for taking the vacation they are entitled to.

I don't suggest that you should go look for a new job but it is a red flag and I think you should update your CV with your current role and be a bit active on LinkedIn. Just in case there suddenly is so many flags that it could be a whole Soviet parade.

I've been involved in hiring hundreds of employees and it's really common for new appointees to have pre booked holidays that we honour during the probation period. With some companies, there's a six month probation so of course they'd be encouraging staff to take at least the accrued time off. I've seen occasionally an extension to probation if someone had significant sickness for example. But not holidays.

Burn out sounds like hyperbole, it's ok to just say I fancy taking a holiday or I want some time off. Just book it. So they extend your probation by a week what's the issue? They're not saying they need to extend it by months

God, Mumsnet is batshit sometimes.

Of course, most people will start to feel like they need a bit of a break after 9 weeks. Maybe just a long weekend will do. I think you might be getting answers from the US, where people only have 3 days holiday per year or something. In my experience, most people take some sort of leave every 2 - 3 months.

I think it's a red flag that they want to extend your probation period in the sense that they don't have much respect for their staff and like to work to rule to an extreme degree.....

Your manager is wrong. Any probationary period, and the reasons why it might be extended, should be outlined in your Contract of Employment. Unless it explicitly says that your probation will be extended by the number of any annual leave days taken during the probationary period, they have no right to do it. The rationale for extending a probationary period is extremely narrow, and it is debatable whether there is any point extending at all. For example, probation does not trump any employment rights you have established due to time served. I work in HR - we would never do this. I would advise you to contact HR and pose your question to them. Your manager's response sounds like it was dreamed up on the hoof.

Did you read the OP properly? The break is not happening after nine weeks, but after four months.

Standard probation periods at my place are 6 months. We'd absolutely expect people to take a balanced amount of leave in the period. Saving all the leave to cram into the remaining 6 months would be a pain for everyone. And we wouldn't extend probation for that reason. To be honest, you know if someone is suited to the job far earlier than that, it's just company/industry standard for it to be 6 months now.

I think it’s fine, it just means you do the full six months. I’d also be concerned you’re feeling a but burned out already and were burned out for different reasons in your previous job. Most folks don’t book hols as they feel burned out.

Life is bad when job probation is an entire year

I had a 3 month probationary period where I work now. It never got properly assessed though as my manager was off sick when I started and for a following 6 months!
I did definitely book leave though, school holidays tend to fall every 6/7 weeks and with school aged children I would book a couple of days.
It’s normal (to me anyway) to feel the need for a break in 4 months, doesn’t mean anything bad!
But I wouldn’t think it was necessarily wrong to add that time on to your probationary period, they need to assess your work over the course of x weeks/months and you will need to be there working for that amount of time.

Eh? How is it abnormal to take AL during probation? Why on earth would it be pushed back?

I don't think it's unreasonable to take leave int that time, especially if you have caring responsibilities. People aren't robots.