Is this ok - annual leave

[NellyTheEfalump]

Right... Any help will be much appreciated!!

My employer have currently merged with three others, and our team has increased from 5 to 9. Previously, with annual leave, it was first come first served and any two people could be off at a time (other than Christmas, which was negotiated)

Now they have decided that for ANY school holiday, parents have priority, and also a woman whose husband is a teacher. They'll have total first refusal regardless of who requests first. Even the parents who's children are in the last years of secondary school, and college.

Now, my children are grown up but I help my sister with childcare for my nieces and nephews. Can they just do this?

This sounds very unfair to me.

Really unfair

That is ridiculous! Parents and people married to teachers, what kind of bonkers policy is that?!

So you could book a year in advance and at the last minute some 'parent' swoops in and takes the days? (Actually as you are a parent presumably you're allowed to block book hols as well, are people going to be expected to produce evidence of the children's ages??)

Ha, they know the ages... Sadly!! It's come about because one mother didn't book her holiday in, and tried this week and all the summer hols were booked, so she made a complaint.

I would be giving the union, or ACAS a ring.

This sounds like they're trying to force whichever non-parent has a week off in the summer to give the time back to the forgetful parent. Wot bollocks.

We have this due to the new school rules. It would be unfair if all the summer holidays annual leave were taken up by childless people who can holiday at any time leaving those with children to hope they got in quick enough next year.

I believe it's fairly common.

That is a ridiculous idea. I say that as a single mother with very little childcare options.

I thought that it was common knowledge that if u wanted holidays in the school holidays that u needed to get the request in first.

So childless people also can't have Christmas, Easter , half terms in case someone with kids wants it ? Leaving a very narrow definition of "holiday anytime"

Well as a parent, she should have known when her child's holidays were and booked in advance like everyone else has to.

I am a parent of school age children btw!

Do they mean that a parent can come in at anytime and you have to change your hols?

This will be the first year we've done it so I'm not sure exactly how it'll work and there's only two of us in the office and my DDs 2.5 (yet people still think I need summer hols off )

Once a holiday is booked, it's booked so I can't really imagine that if I said I needed a prebooked week off they could be that accommodating so officially it's probably still first come first served...

Ridiculous