Annual Leave

[fedupworking]

Can anyone help me with an issue I'm having in work.
I started a new job in April of this year with a well known charity organisation, I have been credited with 7 a/l, I have been told I can't have a/l as all leave for this year has been booked by other's so therefor I can be paid for the leave I am owed, you are not permitted to carry leave over to the following year which is understandable, I don't want paid for the leave and I also don't wish to work until next year with no time off.
Is this legal to make you take payment for a/l or can I insist I have what is due to me

There is someone on leave for literally the whole rest of the year?! I find it unlikely that there are not 7 working days (or at least some) where no one else is away.

You can insist on having the leave you are legally entitled to yes. They can dictate when you take it, but do take it.

I would politely thank them for their offer to pay you for leave, but say you understand you are entitled to take the time off and you would like to do this. You are happy to discuss with them when would be the most convenient times for you to be off.

If you wanted to compromise, you could offer to take some and be paid for some.

When is the leave year and how many days pw are you working . If it is until September 1st and you work 2 days pw then I'd see the possible problem if it is 7 until December 31st and you are full time then very odd.

Sorry should have made this more clear, only 30 hrs per week allowed in leave not sure if this is made up of both night and day staff, but on checking the leave book their is one night duty worker of at some time of the week from now to the end of the year.I'm a 2 night worker I don't wish to be paid for holiday's, holiday's go from Jan to Dec

Working nights you definitely need your holidays.
If not all staff can take their a/l then the employer's system is not working.
Where I work we have 8 night staff and can only have one off at a time but 8 (staff) X 5.6 ( weeks holiday each ) = 44.8 weeks so it is not a problem.
Maybe you can point this out to them

7 days' leave from April to December doesn't sound right at all . Statutory minimum is 5.6 weeks so say your job is .8 equivalent and you joined 1/4 way into the year you should have the equivalent of about 3.4 weeks plus BH's if applicable.

Thank you all for the information and help,
LIZS I have 7 nights A/L and 4 BH due to me (what I have been told) this is equivalent to 3 weeks and 1 night as I work 2 nights a week (80 hours a month ) will be 10 nights when next years A/L start's
I'm not asking for anything that I am not entitled to, I'm finding this frustrating as being a new member of staff it's not looking that I am having issue's when I'm only in the job 4 months, I have asked for 2 nights of in Oct and been told no I can't have them due to the fact that someone else is off, that is understandable but when I asked when can I have off they said I can't and they will have to pay me for my holiday's "not what I want "

they have to let you take it www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights/entitlement has the basics.

They can dictate when you take it, but then can't make you take payment instead - you have the right to take the leave.

They are not allowed to pay you in lieu of leave, you have a legal right to take it under the working time regulations and recent court cases have found organisations who pay people in lieu of leave are in breach of these regulations. Leave is there to enable people to rest and recover, even more important in night work. Your employer is being very unreasonable and they need to find a way around this.