Dd17 work won’t let her book some time off for her driving test

[Blueybingomum]

dd17 is currently doing an appearance in a nursery. She’s been there a year and absolutely loves it but the managers can’t be abit funny.

she passed her theory test last week straight away booked her driving test, now these are horrific to get atm and she luckily managed to get one in 11 weeks time.

she went to work yesterday and asked if she could book it off but manager has said it’s unlikely. She asked if she could just take the morning off as it’s at 11am but again, said unlikely. They told her she has to look at the staff rota and rebook her test. They have more staff than needed atm and are constantly sending staff home early.

Aibu to think it’s abit harsh.

You can choose to make yourself unavailable for work for a period of time in advance at any time, but it is unpaid, it's not holiday.

Once a rota is published if you haven't already said you won't be available for work, you then need to say straight away you won't be available. If you don't say anything, and keep the hours assigned to you and then don't work them you will be treated as AWOL and are subject to disciplinary action.

Plus, if you do make yourself unavailable, you will likely find once you want to work again you won't get any hours - this is really common and is a sadly legal way to ensure staff on zero hours don't get to use the contract to their advantage. So even in a zero hours role you can't take 'holiday' whenever you like.

The employer only has to ensure you are given holiday days - it's entirely up to them when the holiday is taken. You can be told when it will be and have to take it then even if it's not when you want.

Not saying this is the best way to run a business (it isn't!), but a lot of people on this thread seem to think people have rights that they don't actually have at work. It's really important to know your rights, but they are only really applicable in cases where your employer refuses to allow you to use your holiday at all - not when they won't let you use it at more convenient times.

I do agree she should have spoken with the employer or checked the calender to see who else was off before booking this. If they are at maximum capacity for annual leave then those who already had it approved shouldn't be made to cancel leave so your daughter can have it instead. First come first served is a common way of managing requests.

There is no way a nursery ahs done their rota 11 weeks in advance. They are being arses. Nurseries are amongst some of the worst employers. Young, female , underpaid work forces = easy pickings for exploitation.

My DS works at Dunelm - flexible rotas, birthdays off and extra days of paid leave as rewards. Bet he gets paid the same or even more. It's ridiculous.

The cat is out of the box so they'll know what she's up to, she should have kept her mouth shut regarding her test and "call with "food poisoning" in the morning. She could have also taken a photo of the rota with her phone and book a test according to said rota like a normal person 🙄

Does the date fall within the school half term in your area? Maybe a lot of staff are already on leave.

They told her to pick a suitable day on the rota to rebook her test, so there is obviously a viewable rota with staffing levels. She should have checked in the first place instead of booking and assuming they'd grant leave.

Exactly.

When my mum was in her final days (quite recently) I wasnt going to work and was going to be with her. I got a call and had an emergency to deal with and had to go in.

Mum died that evening and I never saw her again.

Life sucks get a fucking helmet. She's 17 there may be a rota and the suggestions to hand in her notice over this will teach her to be "that" employee.

I’m so sorry for your loss.

Sadly life does just go on and especially when you’re on an apprenticeship, you need to be prepared to just suck it up for a few years.

Right so leave a nursery understaffed for a driving test🤨

childcare is the worst industry for this. Where I worked before you had to book your annual leave so far in advance and if 1 person was off already you weren't allowed to take it. Bear in mind there were 30+ staff so the maths didn't work out especially in summer. Closer to the time they would look at ratios and "release" staff to take their annual leave on random days.

A few staff contested this over the years and put it in writing that they would be taking that date regardless of whether or not it was approved and the reasons why etc. They approved it every single time with no consequences for the employee. I would advise your dd to do that.

She was denied leave with 10months notice as well? How long has she worked there and has she had any leave at all!

Does she have an educational institution she is doing the apprenticeship with?

It very much does sound like they are exploiting her as the “lowest” member of staff.

(My school gives teachers time off during term time to take driving tests as it known how hard it is to get one!)

Unless that rota is online, she isn't necessarily going to be able to view it at the time she is trying to book a driving test, even assuming that there are test slots available at a suitable time.

Yup and she can do her driving test a few weeks later. I wont see my mum again.

Life doesnt revolve around her.

"I will be taking annual leave from 4-20 July next summer and if this is not approved on the system by 5 June at the latest I will hand in my notice on that day" would probably get their attention.

Difficult if you're an apprentice though.

That's interesting. It sounds as though she's effectively bottom of the pile when it comes to booking leave.

Assuming she gets the statutory minimum 5 weeks or whatever it is, they could end up telling her when to take it because she'll have loads unused when it comes to the end of the leave year. It might be worth checking out the staff handbook and seeing what it says about the process for booking leave.

If I was in your DD's shoes I'd be desperate to get to the end of my apprenticeship so that I could tell them where to stick their job and go and get another. I'm in the SE and nurseries here are desperate for qualified staff.

Honestly. You cannot book driving tests like that now. It’s more like concert tickets due to bots and resellers.
they get released at 6am on a Monday morning. Which means you need to be queueing by 5.30am every Monday.
you then end up in a massive queue and may or may not get a test. Currently they are booking for January/ February.
you can change the test with cancellations but you have to be very very lucky. And often the only test you can get is miles away, sometimes hundreds.

I'm so sorry for your loss but seriously, you should have told them to go fuck themselves.

It's terrible how browbeaten employees in the UK are.

Tell her to book the test. This isn't her job for life. If they are going to be awkward, stuff them. A driving test is very important and passing it will make her more employable.

You can’t book a driving test in a few weeks time. It doesn’t work like that anymore.

Obviously not comparing it to not being able to see your dying parent which is obviously awful.

Do you know how hard it is to get a test?

Read the OP! It literally says there is a rota they've asked her to check to find a suitable day.

11 weeks notice is ridiculous. What does her contract say? As long as they have enough staff for child ratios I would say the manager is enjoying a position of power. I would consider finding a different nursery if she carries on. Also i have previously worked in the same field and it was ok to swap. However she doesn’t need to give the manager a reason she is entitled to leave. I would say when they release the holiday calendar she needs to book her leave for the year if possible.

There is so little flexibility when booking or changing a test though. It’s very difficult.

In the nhs we have rotas and a lack of staff and minimum numbers needed on the ward. But decent management can try and change things with 11 weeks notice. Unless it’s Christmas Day. I would bet that this is about the manager being difficult and rigid, rather than a genuine rota issue. If we can try and accommodate this on nhs wards, then I think a nursery manager can try and make it work.

Yes, hopefully she can swap.

Driving tests don't work like that though. One cannot simply pick a different day.

@Beammeupscotty2025nope that is unlikely to happen, and she certainly can’t rely on it.
@user1492757084 do you realise driving tests are booked 6am on Mondays? That’s when they are released (for six months time) or you may get extremely lucky and get a cancellation through an app. Or log in randomly and be even luckier!
OP can she escalate the request to someone higher? They cannot prevent her from taking her holiday entitlement at some point during the year (did she take all her holiday last year) - perhaps if she asks when they would allow her to take it? Work around those dates (as unlikely as it is that there will be a test available).

I've not read through all the comments because I don't have time but I've recently had to go through something similar. Tell her to get the Testi app, cancellations for your chosen test centres come up all the time and she can easily get it changed to something more convenient.

I had one booked in for late January and managed to get one changed to next week within a couple of days. Lots more had come up before that but they weren't convenient for me.