Holiday refused

[user5678776]

My holiday year runs April - March and I have one days holiday left to take this year. I received a hospital appointment today for next Friday, the hospital is 3 hours away so will need a full day off. I asked my manager if I could take the day as holiday but she has refused as it is short notice. No one else is off on holiday that day.
Can she do this? I will have to attend the appointment so it will be unpaid and then I will lose my days holiday because the new financial year will start.

Yes, employers can refuse holidays, particularly when requested at short notice I'm afraid.

Depends on the policy for requesting holidays I suppose.

Ask of you can carry the day over or sell it back to them?

I think that is very poor of your employer. A hospital appointment is important. As you say, you have to go anyway, so what difference does it make to the company if it is holiday or not?

What does your contract say re notice? We ask for at least twice the amount of holiday requested - so for 1 day we would only need 2 days notice. That’s not to say it would automatically be approved but it would only get turned down with good reason, such as an important deadline or too many other people being off. Given that you need to attend the hospital anyway they are being very mean!

Do you have a child 12 or under . You can take parental leave

@SparkleSpangle

Depends on the policy for requesting holidays I suppose.

Ask of you can carry the day over or sell it back to them?

@SparkleSpangle We can't carry over or sell back any holiday.

Usually holidays are booked for the financial year in March, so we have just booked holidays for April 22 - March 23. I keep 2-3 days unbooked for hospital appointments so I don't have to take them unpaid.

Did you tell her it was for a hospital appointment? If she is not expecting to be a really busy day then she is being unreasonable and the company I work for would not be like this.

@Bedsheets4knickers

Do you have a child 12 or under . You can take parental leave

@Bedsheets4knickers

I don't but wouldn't that be unpaid?

Also, is she normally unreasonable about things?

It’s legal but very mean. It would make me want to look for a job somewhere else to be honest.

Have you got a HR department/person?

If so I would go above her as shes just being awkward.

What a terrible manager - what will she gain from that if you're going to be off anyway?

Can you complain to the next level of management. Does seem unreasonable for one day off.

I'm sure my contract states a week notice for a day off and a month notice for longer.

Can you ask to take the holiday on a different day? It's annoying about the unpaid leave, but I would be more annoyed about not being able to take the day or carry it over.

Its all legal but its shit and I hope you remember it when they need a favour from you.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/holidays-and-holiday-pay1/taking-your-paid-holiday/

Your employer can refuse your holiday request if they give you the correct notice. If they keep refusing and it’s stopping you taking your holiday, it’s worth talking to them to find out why. If you can’t you might have to make a claim to an employment tribunal.

If they keep refusing your request so that you’re not able to take your holiday in the current leave year, you can claim they’ve refused to allow you to take holiday. You would have to start early conciliation within 3 months less one day of the date on which you wanted your holiday to start.

landaulaw.co.uk/holidays/
How much notice do I need to give my employer before I take my holidays?
The general notice period for taking leave is at least twice as long as the amount of leave you want to take (unless there is a more informal arrangement with your employer or your contract of employment says otherwise). For example, you need to give 2 weeks notice for 1 week’s leave, or 2 days’ notice for 1 day’s leave- unless your contract says something different.

Can my employer refuse my request for holiday, even if I have already booked it?
Yes, your employer can refuse your holiday request, for example during busy periods. If you have already booked your time off, your employer must give as much notice for you to cancel it as the amount of leave you have requested. For example, your employer must give 2 weeks’ notice to refuse your booked holiday if the leave you requested was for 2 weeks.

Although your employer can refuse to give you holiday leave at a certain time, they cannot refuse to let you take your minimum leave entitlement of 28 days for the year.

Do they have to find cover for you or is it a massive hassle to rearrange a rota or something? I assume it's not the type of appointment where you can liaise with the booking dept and arrange a more suitable date. If not then it's really mean and would not be a workplace I would want to work at. Some workplaces let you attend hospital appointments without having to take leave as they understand that sometimes there is no choice about when you can go. What if someone had a chronic illness and had to attend multiple outpatient appointments, would they seriously expect them to take a day's leave every time? They would soon use up all their leave.

Mean. I would look for somewhere with a more human attitude towards their staff.. They're being ridiculously petty given it sounds like there is no real reason to deny you the leave if no-one else has taken holiday. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I would want to go to your HR person and ask about the policy when it applies to medical appointments. Take your appointment letter.

I understand people's point about being refused holiday if not enough notice is given. But couldn't OP take this as medical leave? Surely she is just being "nice" by taking it as holiday? Can employers refuse requests for reasonable medical appointments?

Are you advised to keep some leave back for medical appointments? What if someone had a medical appointment but had used all their annual leave up for that leave year - would they expect them to take it unpaid or make up the time?

Have you talked to her and explained what you have written here? If you have that seems unreasonable and I would go to HR.

You're not pregnant are you? You have greater rights to time off for medical appointments if so, otherwise check your contract/work handbook to see if it's covered. Otherwise sadly no legal right to time off and annual leave must be agreed in advance. You can try talking to HR / someone more senior but if you didn't put your request in writing I'd be inclined to throw a sickie and if she queries it say no that way next week but I've rearranged it for later in the year. Not ideal but sounds like she's being difficult for the sake of it.

Absolutely go over this person's head. What a horror.

@Bedsheets4knickers

Do you have a child 12 or under . You can take parental leave

Nothing to do with a child.

You can self certify for up to 7 days . I would just do that.