Annual leave

[IntoTheFloodAgain]

Hi, I’m asking on behalf of my DH.

He has several weeks of annual leave which should have been taken by the end of this month. He had made several requests (verbal and in writing if relevant). All requests have either been rejected or ignored.

He sees his boss a couple of times a month, as they work on different sites, and told DH last week he would visit this week to ‘catch up’ on issues.
DH has, over the weekend, been informed of a restructure and he now has a different boss so we’re unsure if this meeting is going ahead at all.

DH will be emailing new boss regarding AL, amongst other issues, but is wondering whether he can request that he is paid for any days outstanding, or whether they can just decide to carry them over to the next year?

His boss had previously told him a few days could be carried over and he’d schedule the rest in but obviously this hasn’t happened and he is left with over 4 weeks AL now.

If relevant- DH can’t take time off in Nov and Dec (except for the odd day) but the company also had a major change in August so he was unable to take any AL in the month leading upto that. He has been making requests to take it atleast twice a month since summer (and once or twice a week since Jan)

Our concern is that if they decide to carry it over, he will end up in the same situation next year, with nearly twice the amount of AL and no time to take it in.

I’m unsure what it says in his contract about this, but as his boss had already told him some days would be carried over, and he has made reasonable efforts to book holidays I don’t know if there is a legal entitlement to being paid for it.

bump

Has he checked the annual leave policy? It should state in there how many days he can carry over. Most places only allow a week as standard and anything more has to be prior agreed.

I would collate the requests of annual leave been denied and then show these to the new manager and explain the situation.

hi hes at work so not able to confirm at the minute. But does that mean his employer was acting legally, refusing/ignoring AL requests until it meant that DH will lose them?

He can't lose them, don't worry.

If his employer continually refuses annual leave requests, your DH needs to request that his manager nominates which dates he should take instead. Sounds like he might have tried this, but he should insist that happens with new boss.

In terms of being paid in lieu, this can only happen in two circumstances. One is on termination of employment, and the other is with consent, and only in respect of holiday over and above the statutory minimum. The statutory minimum of 5.6 weeks must be physically taken as time off unless he is leaving his job.

It is possible to carry over 1.6 weeks' holiday into the next holiday year (subject to internal carry over policy), but employees must actually take at least 4 weeks in a year.

If an employer ends up with staff with loads of holiday left at the end of the year because holiday requests have been continually refused with no alternative dates offered, they will end up in a situation where they will have to send staff home on annual leave!

Just to concur with what has already been posted, the reason statutory annual leave came into being is to ensure employees take time out from work. From a health and safety perspective it is good employment practice to ensure the workforce get time to rest and be with their family.

By refusing your DHs leave, his employer isn't supporting employment good practice, which could be something he reminds the manager or HR. Being paid for statutory AL days instead isn't acceptable, as it doesn't give that 'enforced rest' (which is to avoid burnout in theory).

Thanks for the replies, he is emailing his new boss today. I’m not really sure what to expect as the new holiday year starts April 1st.

It’s a massive company, we’re not near any of their offices, so DHs emails and calls just get ignored or redirected, it’s ridiculous.

If he can only carry over 1.6 weeks, and he isn’t able to take any time off in the next couple of weeks, what would happen then? Will he be entitled to carry over everything that is remaining?

I’m just doubting that they will give him any days off this month at such short notice. There are a few other issues that his employer is failing to address (incorrect pay being one of them) so we have very little faith.

Just a quick update - Spoke to DH just and he tried to put through a new request today but he has received the message that the booking system is closed off for the rest of the holiday year now.

I’m not sure if his manager will have the option to override this, but it looks like he wont be able to take anything now.

As I said, he can't lose the holiday. His new manager will need to advise him when he can take it, which should be as soon as possible.

The booking system arrangements don't affect his rights.