ASDA refused holiday now My son has to quit

N9eav

Greetings.

My son got a PT job in ASDA back in September. On his application he informed them that he would not be available for work from 18 dec - 4 Jan as we had a family holiday booked to USA. They accepted him for employment and he again put this on the induction forms and was told there would be no problem.
He has been to personnel and his line manager to book the holiday having accumulated already enough holiday entitlement, but has been told that no one can have holiday over Christmas and he should cancel the holiday.
So he is being forced to leave as he won't be missing out on our family holiday and stay home on his own over Christmas.

He has another job to pick up the 15 hours anyway so he is not bothered. But I am.
I mean they trained him and this was not just a Christmas job it was to continue on in to the new year and beyond. He will leave anyway so why not grant the holiday and have a trained worker for next year?

Has any laws been broken here?

rajuv

same happenend to me when i worked in asda about 8 years ago.
i just called in sick.
there is nothing they can do about it

Oldernotwiser

rajuv wrote: »

same happenend to me when i worked in asda about 8 years ago.
i just called in sick.
there is nothing they can do about it

Well, that's really helpful advice - not!

timmmers

N9eav wrote: »

Greetings.

My son got a PT job in ASDA back in September. On his application he informed them that he would not be available for work from 18 dec - 4 Jan as we had a family holiday booked to USA. They accepted him for employment and he again put this on the induction forms and was told there would be no problem.
He has been to personnel and his line manager to book the holiday having accumulated already enough holiday entitlement, but has been told that no one can have holiday over Christmas and he should cancel the holiday.
So he is being forced to leave as he won't be missing out on our family holiday and stay home on his own over Christmas.

He has another job to pick up the 15 hours anyway so he is not bothered. But I am.
I mean they trained him and this was not just a Christmas job it was to continue on in to the new year and beyond. He will leave anyway so why not grant the holiday and have a trained worker for next year?

Has any laws been broken here?

No, it will be in the contract ...and he had to apply for leave because of that.
Saying that, they aren't being very sensible since he told them way in advance...they probably see his holiday as less important than their business plans.
They have over a million alternatives these days.

If he cared so much, he would scrap his holiday. He doesn't, so nothing lost really if he can replace the job easily.

The only place I can think of getting a job that would be as busy over Xmas would be with Santa.

t

Anihilator

rajuv wrote: »

same happenend to me when i worked in asda about 8 years ago.
i just called in sick.
there is nothing they can do about it

Except dismiss you for it.:rolleyes:

new_orleans_man

If they were aware of this prior to him taking up employment (seems to me they were) then he would have a good case if he was dismissed, unfortunately he has not been there long enough to be covered by the relevant employment law. So he is out on a limb. Rough on the kid though.

DVardysShadow

I think a letter, keeping a copy, to ASDA personnel, saying as advised in the application form and induction forms, I will be taking leave <dates> and will return on <date>. If he gets a refusal on that, he should raise a grievance

He has got a copy of the application form at least, I hope - attaching a copy would not hurt.

jamespir

rajuv wrote: »

same happenend to me when i worked in asda about 8 years ago.
i just called in sick.
there is nothing they can do about it

so they call you and your sunnig it up thats a sackable offence and more importantly fraud:rolleyes:

SueC_2

I can't see that any laws have been broken, although the whole situation does seem fairly unnecessary. Many companies have holiday policies, outlining when employees can and can't take holiday, and it is quite normal in certain industries (retail and hospitality to name the most obvious) to disallow holiday being taken over the Christmas period when the business is at its busiest.

However, given that your son made it perfectly clear up front that he had a pre-booked holiday for that period, I find it astonishing that, having incurred the cost and effort of recruiting and training him, they are now prepared to lose him as an employee rather than honour a commitment they have already made.

I suspect one of the following:

a/ This is all down to poor communication, with the people who are now telling him he can't take the holiday being unaware of the agreement that was previously made.

b/ There is more to it than meets the eye, and that your son's performance is in some way lacking and they are looking for an 'easy way' to get him to move on.

The first could be resolved by him explaining and asking them to re-consider, but the second is less easy to overcome. Given that he has another job lined up anyway, that may be his easiest route.

donnajunkie

N9eav wrote: »

So he is being forced to leave as he won't be missing out on our family holiday and stay home on his own over Christmas.

this is common place in retail to not allow holidays around december. if he cant get it sorted and does choose to quit i suggest that he doesnt quit until the day before your holiday which is the 17th is it. that way at least that would maximise his ability to mess them around since they will have messed him around. in fact i would be tempted to not even resign and just go on holiday without saying anything.
if he has proof that they agreed to the holiday when they gave him the job then they would not even be able to sack him for it. well i suspect so. although workers have few rights and the chances are they would just get rid of him anyway, certainly when it comes to them getting rid of the excess xmas staff in january.

SueC_2

donnajunkie wrote: »

if he cant get it sorted and does choose to quit i suggest that he doesnt quit until the day before your holiday which is the 17th is it. that way at least that would maximise his ability to mess them around since they will have messed him around. in fact i would be tempted to not even resign and just go on holiday without saying anything.

I'd seriously advise against this. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the situation, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that, at some point in the future, he will need a reference from them. If he "messes them around" then ultimately he could end up paying the price.

If he really cannot resolve the situation re. the holiday, I'd suggest he hands in the appropriate length of notice and politely explains that his reason for leaving is due to the misunderstanding that seems to have occured regarding his prior arrangements for a holiday.