Not allowed to take any holiday in June at work

[exhaustedandwholly]

Due to the nature of my job, we have a lot of events happening in June which I help organise etc. I've requested a few days in June for a holiday and they've been declined and been told we cannot request any time in June due to how busy it will be. It frustrates me because this is the only time we can really go away before summer holidays start otherwise July is too expensive (we haven't got kids) and may isn't hot enough in most places.

Does anyone else have these issues?!

It's really not!

We have this with DH. His company holds a major conference in September every year. Since the DC have left school that would be my preferred holiday time but we can only ever do a week and it has to fit around the conference. It's been like that for years and drives me mad.

We just have to suck it up though.

School holidays usually start end of july, so why not go early July??

Just go sick. Workplaces have no loyalty now so show non back.
They cant prove anything.

I can't take July off or the two weeks over the Christmas period.

Can you go 2nd week in September that's what we do and it's normally still just under 30

We also have restrictions. Can't take leave the week of Good Friday and the weekend right after, also can't take leave after the 1st week of December up until after New Years day

I think lots of private schools break up early July so costs do start to rise then. I’d go end of May or early September.

Pretty common to have periods for no holiday booking. Eg. Retail jobs is always December.

Go in September.

Can you go away in early July instead?

I wouldn't go off sick; it'll be so obvious.

You say you 'have a lot of events happening in June which I help organise'; is this the same every year i.e. did you always know June was a busy period? If so then you did go into the job with your eyes open.
Can they absolutely not happen without you there? Would your absence cause big problems/require everyone else to put in lots of extra time/require the company to hire in a temp? If so then they're being reasonable. If they just mean they'd rather have you there then they're not.

So you ask for holiday in June, it gets refused and lo and behold you happen to be sick those days and come back to work with suntan?

And can’t believe how many people are advising taking sick leave! Bit suspicious if you take time of with a vomiting bug, and come back with a tan!

It's very common to have times of year where no-one is allowed leave due to it being a busy time.

Presumably you've known about this rule for quite a while. You can go away in May or July, before schools break up. May often has lovely weather here in the UK, if you go on the continent it will be nice in May or July.

If you are not happy about this, look for another job.

Are you the only person working on organising these events?

What would happen if you were sick/had an emergency/needed to see a doctor and therefore required time off in June? or if you decided to resign tomorrow leaving no on in post? would the events then have to be cancelled?

Because it is a bit daft of the employer to not have enough staff allocated to crucial events to the point that one individual cannot take some leave.

Honestly OP that would piss me off because it is just bad planning from the employer and a decision not to employ enough staff to deliver a specific function.

I would look for a new job or go off sick.

I used to work in a company where it was made clear at interview that there were 16 weeks a year where holidays were denied. These weeks were two weeks prior and two weeks post standard rent quarter dates. 25th March, 24th June, 29th September and 25th December. We got any bank holidays in the periods like Easter, Christmas, New Year but other than that your backside was at your desk unless you were dead or dying.

Just go the first week in July - even the private schools don't break up that early.

We could never book A/L during Bank Holidays, Christmas or New Year - if you were on the rota to work you had to suck it up. Going sick really messed up the teams for everyone concerned too.

Very annoying but some places are hot enough in May like Cyprus, Canaries & Southern Spain.

Do grow up. Annual leave is always agreed between the employer and employee.
In life you will need to learn you can't always have your own way (and if you don't then you revert to being dishonest).

Another one saying to go off sick. When did the nation become full of dishonest liars?

And never half term, which gets expensive for holiday clubs!

When did the nation become full of people who cared about their employer that much... Companies do not care about you. You are just a employee.

Frame your request in a way that benefits them. Don’t ask for time off offer a solution. “I understand the importance of June. But I’ve been working relentlessly to ensure these events go off without a hitch. To ensure I can continue to give my best and avoid burnout, I’d like to take a few days off during this period to recharge. I’ll make sure all my responsibilities are covered.” This shows you’re still thinking about the company’s needs while making your case.

Some companies don’t care about you.

Some companies do care about you.

Some employees are dishonest and lie.

Some employees are honest and don’t lie.

I’m an honest employee who works for a company that care about me.