To be annoyed colleague is taking two months off?

[galleo]

My colleague (and friend) is expecting. She is going to take July-January as mat leave, then she is taking July-August next year off as split mat leave.

Our team is very thinly staffed and manager isn’t getting someone to cover maternity. That’s fine we will manage. However, it does mean that there’s not enough staff to cover holidays. So we are being discouraged from taking more than a week at a time off during the time my colleague is away. We are very busy in the summer months so only one member of the team can be off during the school holidays - but as colleague is taking the split mat leave in July August, that means for next summer holidays, I can’t take a single week off to spend time with my kids!

How is spit mat leave a thing? Strikes me that someone is taking the piss at the expense of the rest of the works force OP!

I've said YABU because I dont get why you're annoyed at your colleague. If you had said you were annoyed at your manager, I'd have said YANBU.

YAB very U to be annoyed at your colleague. It’s your manager who is the problem here. They need to ensure everyone has a fair chance at holidays with kids. It’s not on for them to expect all the other employees to suck it up rather than pay for proper cover.

It’s a thing if a couple share the leave.

To be fair she could take the whole 12 months, July-July, but she is returning to work for a big chunk.

What sector is this? I would be speaking to HR, quickly. Or looking for a new job.

This is what l think is happening. Your manager doesn't sound the best so it sounds like they are misunderstanding it. I would blame your manager / their manager for not organising and planning cover. Maternity leave is allowed and notice will have been given

Definitely up to employer to either sort out cover, or, to say no to their request! At least say no to that timeframe as it's completely cutting out school holidays, so people like me, with kids, will often want to take a good 2 week break

Agreed the manager/employer sounds like the issue here. but also I don’t have kids so never taken maternity leave but I still wouldn’t be annoyed at my colleague.

Absolutely. Be annoyed at the right person. You're not behaving like this woman is your friend.

If she's taking shared parental leave it's a statutory right and to deny it would amount to a sex discrimination claim.

It's a amanagement issue but unless contracts stipulate that periods of annual leave should be taken during specified dates, there is no inherent right to take contractual annual leave entirely at the employees convenience but most employers are reasonable during school holidays.

This is the most ignorant comment. Swanning around. Erm her first mat leave is 6 months most women take a full year. Motherhood is the most beautiful but hard time in a woman's life. She will be caring for a new baby. Not swanning around at anyone's expense. With both parts of her may leave it doesn't even equate to 9 months off. Most women take far more time. She is more than entitled to enjoy this time with her new baby and adjust to motherhood. It is not at the expense of anyone. Management are obviously the problem here. I would just say to the manager that it isn't going to work like that, as she has to have more than a week within the school holidays and that they need to make appropriate provisions for this and potential sickness otherwise would be looking for a job that can allocate fair holidays and staff cover. Then I'd be getting advise from acas. Not being funny towards a women having the mat leave she deserves. Family comes before everything.

They should be getting cover. Assuming your company don't pay full pay for the whole maternity leave, she should be getting SSP after a few months (don't shoot me if i'm wrong on that, its a long time since i mat leave), they should be able to afford cover for the majority of her leave

I voted YABU because you should not be annoyed at your colleague.

You should be annoyed at your company, it is their responsibility to find cover and allow their employees to still be able to take annual leave. You should take a week off as sick in this scenario and not feel guilty.

Also do you have a union? Employee assistance scheme? Or could you call ACAS?

How long have you been employed, have children, a not got that this perfectly OK?

Duh.

If you are annoyed at your colleague then you are tiresome

Why is your colleague allowed to take a period of maternity leave so long after the birth of the baby? Colleague seems a bit selfish to me. Having said that, it’s the employer’s fault for agreeing to it then not arranging cover.

Does you colleague have school age kids? If not could you appeal to her better nature and ask her if she could take May/June off instead? Point out to her that holidays would be cheaper then and not full of annoying school age kids! Explain to her the impact it’s having on you - whilst blaming the boss of course, not her.

I couldn’t put up with not having summer holidays with my kids, I would have to quit and find another job.

She’s had leave agreed by management who have then chosen not to cover her. Someone is definitely taking the piss here, but it’s the manager not the colleague.

I have a colleague that has taken
3-6 months sick leave every year for at least long as I’ve been in the job (4 years)

So about a year ago they applied for a promotion, and although many other candidates including internal staff with great attendance applied to, they decided to give them the role.

This person is now off on long term sick again. What a surprise.

It’s ridiculous because now that this individual has been given a senior role, being off is going to cause more issues for an already over stretched, understaffed team, than if they were in the previous more junior role.

I still mainly blame the management though for giving her the promotion. although I think the person does bear some responsibility for applying for it, knowing that realistically they are incapable of working a full year.

So yeah I get your annoyance, OP but it should be directed at the right person/people.

Never heard of split maternity leave before.Sounds like your colleague has found a loophole to wing the summer off. Its impacting other staff so I'd be furious too at colleague and managers.

Why on earth are you annoyed at your colleague? This is a problem for your manager to sort.

Agree this is on the employer.

However, I'm also confused at the mat leave set up so could do with clarity.

Is it the case that you are entiled to 1 year mat leave so your colleague would normally do July to July followed by her annual leave for that year, hence it spans July to August next year? In her case the middle part of that is Jan-Jul covered by DP?

If that is the case I would say the employer would be reasonable to refuse your colleague taking all annual leave in July-August, at the end of her mat leave period, and insist it is (at least in part) taken within the Jan-July period.

No way should your colleague be allowed to take the entire school holidays over other colleagues.

Obviously the correct answer is the employer gets sufficient cover for school holidays. Failing that your friend should at most be allowed 1 week of annual leave in July-Aug and the rest of annual leave taken within the Jan-July window. That way all colleagues get at least 1 week with their family in the sumer holidays.

I think anger should be aimed at your employer but will forgive you some annoyance towards colleague as she'll be fully aware of the situation (since you are). Clearly she is looking out for herself so she can't argue some bitterness towards herself since she knows fellow colleagues will be deined quality family time.

I’m happy to be corrected on that, but if the combined leave starts at the start of July 2025 and ends at the end of August 2026, doesn’t that suggest some of it must be annual leave, whether at the start or end?

But annual leave is exactly that ………‘Annual leave’…….Maternity leave is a totally different thing altogether.

Makes no difference. Management agreed it, it’s up to management to cover it. It’s been explained how it can be maternity leave upthread.

What? So you think the employer should just not communicate with the team about an employee’s absence and leave them guessing?!