Any Thing i can do about this????

maka_2

Back in march 06 i told the company that i worked for that i was buying my 1st house and would need to book some holiday to do this. i also informed them that i will ive them as much notice as poss.
i told them 2weeks ago that i would need the 30th of june and the week after this was ok'ed. now today they have sacked a memeber of staff this now leaves them short staffed and i have been told that i cant have this time off. they are saying my holiday was never signed off by one of the ties in the head office. But i think in is deeper than this, the guy who is ment to sign it off also the guy who said i cant have it off is also the guy that i do not get on with, so i feel this is more of a personal action rather than a work based action. all this has not helped as i have been signed off work for the last 4 weeks due to the poor standard off our chairs at work. i was signed off with RSI due to back problems.

is there anything i can to i cant put my moving date off.?

hjb123

Hi,

I replied to your other post about this:
Have you asked them when you can have time off- or have they given you any idea of when you could have time off? Then maybe speak to whoever it concerns about your moving date to see if it can be moved.

Are you back at work now then after being off sick?

ruthyjo

Are you in a union? If so speak to your union rep. Particularly if you've had the standard confirmation of your leave they might be breaching your terms and conditions.

If you have a child under 5 you could ask for unpaid leave (you're entitled to upto 13 weeks before child's fifth birthday).

Lastly it's very hard for someone to prove you're not ill if you take one day off sick even if they have strong suspicions of it, unless they see you moving furniture or something. However this would have to be a major last resort as I think they'd be in their rights to sack you if you were cought out.

maka_2

ruthyjo wrote:

Are you in a union? If so speak to your union rep. Particularly if you've had the standard confirmation of your leave they might be breaching your terms and conditions.

If you have a child under 5 you could ask for unpaid leave (you're entitled to upto 13 weeks before child's fifth birthday).

Lastly it's very hard for someone to prove you're not ill if you take one day off sick even if they have strong suspicions of it, unless they see you moving furniture or something. However this would have to be a major last resort as I think they'd be in their rights to sack you if you were cought out.

Im not in a union, cant afford to take it has unpaid leave as just bought 1st home . problem is i need a week of not just one day and i will be moving furniture. im am interested about they may have breached my t&c's how can i find this out?

ceegee

I have found ACAS (Arbitration and Conciliation Advisory Service) to be absolutely brilliant in regard to these sort of employment issues. You can phone them up as an individual....they are not just for companies/unions arbitration. I'll go and dig out their phone number. Back in a mo.

ceegee

ACAS helpline 0845 7474747.

Good luck!

maka_2

I have spoke to acas they have told me the best thing i can do is o throught the company grievence policy. this can take up to 28 days. no good as i move on 30/06.
if i had to pull out of buying this house i would inccur a lot charges plus loss of my own money. Would the company i work for be liable for all this?

maka_2

I have also been informed by acas that the company i work for has to give you the same amount of days notice (to tell me i cant have it) as the amount of days i want off.
That would be from 30/06/06 to the to the 9/07/06 i make that 10days yet they told me yesterday so i make that 9 days.
that make sense?

Astaroth

Almost all companies have clauses that holidays will be given subject to business needs. If you are working in a small team then one person being sacked is likely to have a significant impact on business needs and even if the "true" reason for the declining the holiday is more to do with a personal vendetor with one of your managers you would be hard pushed to prove this over the fact you are now short staffed.

I cannot see any case where an employer would be liable for costs of you changing your moving date when the holiday hadnt been formally signed off according to the due process in the company.

A week however does seem a lot longer than people normally take off to move - I am sure it would be nice to have a lot of time off so that you can play with your new house but I am sure that you could do it in a much shorter time if you put your mind to it. Do you work shifts? Is it possible to agree just a shorter holiday period or swap shifts with one of your colleagues?

ceegee

If I was in your position, I would do everything I could so that the moving in caused as little disruption as possible to your work. Could you do it on Friday night and over the weekend, with help from friends or relatives? I've moved house before during the day and gone back to work that night! As long as you and your stuff are in, it doesn't matter if things are not in their rightful place.

I would also, as a matter of urgency and courtesy, write a polite letter to this "guy" explaining the conversations earlier this year regarding your holiday, how it was verbally agreed etc. and pointing out that you will be doing everything in your power to minimise disruption to your work, by making every effort to complete the move over the weekend, but giving him notice that it may spill over into Monday.( But make every effort for that not to happen.) Tell him, in the letter that you will make up the lost hours if it does spill over. (and of course, make sure that you domake them up!)

In order to have any comeback against them whatsoever, you must be absolutely totally squeaky clean and reasonable with them at all stages. It will stand you in good stead should the s..t hit the fan, later. You will have shown yourself to have been completely fair and reasonable over the whole business.

Keep a copy of the letter and have it certified as a true copy by a solicitor or commissioner for oaths.

That lot is what I would do if I valued my job.

BTW, I am not a solicitor....you can get half an hour's free advice from a lot of solicitors. There are also legal centres in a lot of cities which will give advice. There is also the CAB, but you need an appointment there and you don't have the luxury of time.

As I have said, that is what I would do. I am not a solicitor, just a person who has been around for some time and been through a lot of stuff!

ceegee

Astaroth.....I see we agree re length of time taken to move house! Just open the door and chuck it all in. Do it on Friday night and you'll have all weekend to sort your stuff. Or do it on Saturday and you'll have all of Sunday.