Time off for holidays

[mrsscoob]

Wondering if anyone can help. Last month DH firm told him and his colleagues that they need to book all their holiday for the coming year on a first come first served basis I wasn't very happy as didn't really want to book a holiday yet, but so be it. So we had a look online found a good holiday at a good price and booked it. He took his holiday form in the next day and now they have denied his request. He requested it in December and the holiday is for June. Can they really do this? Given the amount of notice he has given them? We've booked it now so not really sure where to go from here. He did "appeal" higher up at HR and they denied it too.

It'll all depend on whether colleagues have already booked for those weeks.

If there is a maximum number of planned absences (which may vary over the year, depending on seasonality of the business) and that has already been reached, then I'm afraid it is unlikely there is anything to be done.

Any employer is perfectly entitled to deny any holiday request, regardless of whether someone else has booked those days.

Even if you knew they would automatically grant requests if no one else was off, how could you guarantee someone else wasn't going to go in that morning with the same dates as your DH and be first come and first served?

I'm sure you realise it now, but really it's a tad hasty to actually book a trip away before a holiday request has been approved. Most people do it the other way round.

Can the dates of the trip be changed?

Thanks for your reply yes other people got in before him. Don't really know what to do now.

If you knew it would be first come first served, it seems strange to book a holiday before booking time off

Can you cancel the holiday?

You'll need to see if the holiday company can changes the dates of your trip or cancel and lose your deposit I'm afraid.

I thought you were going to say the employer was going back on the 'first come first served' thing and were asking if anything could be done to hold them to it, but really this is all of your own making.

Isn't the safest approach to book days off from work and then go and book a holiday rather than the other way round.
No one in this office books and confirms their holiday before the holiday requests have been confirmed - a lesson to be learnt for future...

In the meantime the best you may be able to do is find out about cost of shifting holiday to another week. I'd also be talking to my manager about what the reasons for refusal are. If its a minimum staffing level then its a word with colleagues about whether anyone has got that week but nothing booked and would be willing to do a swap.

Yes should have booked it after, definite lesson learned there! It was just a really good price and it said only 3 rooms left and I was worried if I didn't book it straight away then the holiday would go. He's never had any problems booking time off before so it didn't occur to me that he would this time.