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!

No, it’s not. The manager’s failure to cover it adequately is causing the inconvenience.

Kindly YABU.
It’s not your decision… I think if your employer is refusing you annual leave for childcare that you need and want; you should look for another employer who is more empathetic. I don’t think you’re being unreasonable in wanting time with your own children; but you are being unreasonable directing your anger at your colleague rather than your employer who should have gotten cover to ensure they can treat others fairly and not basically cost cut at your expense of your time with your children! They sound a bit shit.

Its a management problem. Not a colleague problem.

This!! You need to speak to your manager and HR

I can see why you feel annoyed but it's the employer who has created the problem. The colleague is just taking leave she is entitled to, at a time she prefers.

I get it. My employer introduced a new policy so that everyone with a child being born would be entitled to 6 months at full pay. Men as well as women and regardless of whether the other parent was also taking maximum maternity/paternity leave. It didn't have to be all at once and could be split into two chunks. It was also retrospective so anyone who'd been on maternity/paternity leave in the previous two years could claim the pay difference or take the leave. Of course everyone opted to take a chunk of leave over the summer months.

For the last 3 years this has left us VERY shortstaffed June-August. It's all very well posters saying "the manager needs to recruit cover" but our industry (complex high value specialist law) its really not straightforward. Anyone who would be suitable would have to be really good and with the right experience- those sort of people do not want a temporary job! Anyone who doesn't would be a liability and would need such heavy supervision it doesn't really take any of the burden off us.

I think it's a good policy as it has made our firm more attractive for recruitment (of permanent jobs) and as it's full pay lots of men are taking the leave which is good for equality. But I'm really cross with the partners who just sign off multiple requests for overlapping summer leave with an "oh we'll manage" attitude.

Hoping it eases off once the retrospective backlog is over!

You aren't being at all unreasonable with your disappointment - that situation sucks. You are being entirely unreasonable thinking this is the fault of your colleague. Your organisation needs to do something to ensure that everyone with children gets some meaningful time off over the Summer school holidays. It is a huge point relating to wellbeing for most parents and it is really important for the children as well. As a worker you do have a right to wellbeing, or at least to not experiencing anything that so obviously harms your wellbeing. You really must speak to the manager who has made this fluff up.

But if she was taking a solid year, then it would be easier to get cover. It’s the 2 months over the summer that will be difficult to recruit for.

It doesn't sound like the manager is planning to recruit to cover any of it

You don’t sound a very good friend. It’s her right and prerogative to do this, blame your manager for not arranging temp staff to cover

if you had robust labour laws, like some countries, you would be absolutely entitled to take at least one break of 2 weeks off every calendar year.

But spare your ire for your employer, not for a woman making use of hard won maternity protections

Colleague is taking time off she's legally entitled it. It's up to manager to arrange cover.

Wtf, none of your business how your "friend" takes their mat leave and completely up to your employer to find cover

This

If all the other members of the team also have school age children and feel the same as the OP then they may all gradually leave for other jobs. Not saying anyone should be giving ultimatums or threatening to do this but if they each quietly and separately decided to vote with their feet when the opportunity arose who could blame them. This kind of thing happens in bad workplaces, people aren't happy so they don't stay. The colleague going on maternity leave may well find herself coming back to a totally new team if something isn't done (not blaming her at all by the way just the useless managers).

Do you mean shared parental leave? Unfortunately this has to be granted so if she wants those dates she can have them.

I disagree. It is selfish piss taking colleagues that make it difficult for everyone to get a bite of the cherry. I work in a team of Nurses, most with school age kids, one nurse has requested two days off every week over the entire 6 weeks (she only weeks 3 days). Got to hand it to her for the brass neck and inability to give a shiny shite about the rest of the team....luckily it was denied.

Why are you annoyed at your colleague? It’s your employer’s responsibility to ensure you have adequate cover.

This.
talk to your manager about mat leave cover …say why yoube
ieve it’s needed. They’ve got plenty of time to get it in place. If they don’t, and it stops anyone taking holiday over peak summer holidays that your bosses and company being detrimental to you all.

owmen have babies as you well know. If she’d got pregnant later and had continuous maternity leave she’d take it then anyway. Someone else might go I’ll over this time. Someone else might even be pregnant and take mat lewve over this time anyway. In other words this is life stuff that happens on every business’s and to everyone. Maternity rights are there to protect women from taking the blame for needing time off.

this is issue with your management. That’s it. Nowt to do with this women’s leave. Do not raise it with her. It’s not her problem to solve.

I think the problem lays with management rather than your friend. I would look to get a more flexible role that suits you.

YANBU to be annoyed. But she can do it, the fact that affects other is up to management no up to her. Re direct the annoyance in the right direction.

I agree with all the comments here. It’s absolutely not ok for management to expect colleagues to cover a maternity. It’s hardly an unexpected event - they should have provisional plans in place. This kind of situation is bad for everyone - parents and non-parents. It essentially means that colleagues are paying for the maternity leave through unpaid overtime which is pretty disgusting when you think about it.

But not the colleagues’ fault - 100% unethical employment practices. So please do not show any resentment to her - the situation will be stressful for her too - and she’ll know she will doubtless have to pick up the slack in future for another colleague

No, the managers refusal to find suitable cover is causing the inconvenience. Women have a right to take their mat leave according to the law and company policy and this woman is fully entitled to take her split leave. The only issue is management are ridiculous to think they can just ban summer holidays for everyone else.

Echoing a lot of the pp, you have a shit manager problem, not a colleague problem.

Management should be getting maternity cover - ensure you and others are not picking up loads of extra work!
If the baby is due this July then at least some of the leave booked next year is holiday leave,not mat leave, which work could have turned down. Mat leave only covers the leave for the 52 weeks after the birth!
Maybe worth looking at your work leave/maternity policies - ensure they are being properly followed, especially if you are only allowed a set number of weeks off at a time....
Contact HR, as it is unreasonable that someone is allowed so much leave off at a)a busy time for work b) key school holiday time. Personally I would be putting in a request for a week off and letting them sort it out......

It does seem, from numerous such posts on MN, and experience of a couple of relatives in nhs, that the nhs in general seems to make a dogs dinner of managing time off, or various part time working patterns, for its staff and upsetting everyone in process.

I guess it’s probably down to lack of staff, poor cover, and limited funds for bank nurses? I don’t know, but as outsider it seems a massive issue between nhs workers especially nurses. Hardly stuff of a happy team of colleagues!

but that doesn’t mean that anyone asking for part time in other sectors are, in droves and default, “selfish piss takers” when it comes to requesting leave. I worked in private sector and these things never caused issues even in shift work environment . But it is down to the business . Yep we always had the usual angst over Xmas working, but people knew first come first served, or I worked where there was mandated Xmas shut downs anyway.

this poster is in education, schools, but seemed to me an odd one to be in work and needing cover over summer ..I was a bit confused as to why..normally it’s more term time that would create issue! But it seems form MN posts that state teachers are similar to nhs, in so far as colleagues sometimes taking umbridge for timing of their colleagues mat leave. So maybe issues there as well around lack of staff cover.

I think it’s pretty poor to describe maternity leave, or even part time working mums, as selfish piss taking, btw. People will always need mat leave and timing is never right. Clearly you’re pissed ..but really it is a management issue you are put in this position, and thankfully in example you gave management did sort it out. Everyone is entitled to ask, but if a “business” can’t support a request they can say no with the reasons. That’s the law. People do have rights to request and employer has to give reasons why not. No point you getting pissed every time someone asks, even if it’s extreme. If you think management make wrong decison if they do approve, it’s a problem for you to raise with management , not the requesters.

im retired now. Worked part time for a few years when kids young, managed teams over my career with people needing flex working, mat
leave, resignations, performance improvement programs from genuine piss takers, long term sick leave..and sadly even dying of cancer and a fatal road traffic accident. It’s life (and death in these 2 cases) . As an employer you have to manage it and take the least worst option on balance. And listen to others who raise concerns to minimise impact. But this stuff will always happen. Usually when you least need it to happen. But it is firmly a management issue, not the requestors.