Is my company being unreasonable?

NorhternMonkey

just to update you. I have been given a list of date I cant take holidays.

12th - 26th Feb
12th - 16th Apr
31st Aug
10th - 29th sept.

and thats just busy spots in the year, not taking into accout other staffs hols.

Reggie_Rebel

Most companies will have a holiday embargo. Those don't seem too onerous.

~_SKY_~

This is life lol. If you want to keep your job, then like the rest of us I'm afraid you have to organise the rest of your life around what time you have off - days off and all that. Visiting your family to show off the new baby isn't a urgent reason to demand time off I'm afraid.

I'd like some time off for the rest of the week and some of next week to go shopping, and see my family, do a spot of decorating but i can't as i have work and i'd like to keep my job, money and house.

Just go see them when you have time off or later on in the year when you've been in work more and you can book some time off.

Good luck with life and congratulations on your baby.

shellsuit

If the baby is so young, would it be wise anyway for you go go visting numerous people who don't live local?

Why don't you book a whole week off, say at the end of Feb or beginning of March, then you can spend a whole week together and have time and notice, so you could visit people and they could visit you.

I wouldn't visit anyone when I had my children, if people wanted to see the baby, they would come here.

P.S. I have a New Years Day child too

floss2

NorhternMonkey wrote: »

hols are jan - jan and I get 21 days a year which is 1.75 days per month.

Do you work away from where your partner & child live? How long have you worked for the company? Is this 21 days for the whole of 2010? holiday entitlement

buglawton

If an employer is unwilling to be flexible (as OP's seems) the I would put in a formal application for Flexible Working. After all, who know what other extra issues might arise in the future, and why should the mother take all the strain?

there is a tool to check of you have a statutory right to apply:
http://direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/EmploymentInteractiveTools/DG_10028440

if you pass the test it will put big pressure on your employer, and all because they could not be more flexible about a handful of days.

If UK employers carry on like this, Parliament will eventually start listening to the EU's ideas that we should have a massive parental leave like 9 months, legally protected and flexibly shareable between mother and father.

BligBlag

OP, congratulations on the birth of your child, but you're coming across as though you're the first man who's ever had a child and yet has to work too... there's millions of dads (and mums) out there working... that's just life.

Regarding your Employers, no I don't think they're being unreasonable. They have the right to refuse leave if it clashes with other Employees, you haven't given enough notice, you've taken too much leave in a short amount of time... etc...

So you had a week off before Xmas... and 2 weeks off from New Years Day... (I'm assuming you didn't work between Xmas and New Years Day?)... so effectively you were absent from work for a month? I'm calculating that you probably returned to work this week? And you've already asking for a day off next week, and the week after, and the week after that...

...I'm not too surprised they've refused it to be honest, they probably think you're not taking your job very seriously and you've got baby brain. Fact is they don't care about your baby, it's nothing to do with them, showing your baby off to friends/family doesn't entitle anyone to demand leave for it.

mikey72

NorhternMonkey wrote: »

Hello Folks,

I had a week off just before christmas to spend time with my wife who was heavily pregnant. She then give birth on New Years day, so I took two weeks paternaty leave.

I have now asked for the 29th Jan, 1st and 8th Feb off, but they have been refused because work say I have had too much time off recently.

I tried to explaine that the 29th and 1st (Fri & Mon) off so we can go and visit my family, as I have lots and its would be easier than that lot comming down.

The 8th I want so I can look after our little girl while my wife goes to a meeting.

Are my company being unreasonable?

That's probably not a valid reason, if they're using paternity leave as an excuse, it's possible it dicrimination, as they wouldn't use it if you had just come back from maternity leave. I not saying they wouldn't say no, they would just use a different reason. You could request unpaid parental leave as well.
At the end of the day though, I'd probably say accept it, and keep your job, rather than argue, and get noticed for the wrong reasons.

Look at
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Moneyandworkentitlements/WorkAndFamilies/Paternityrightsintheworkplace/DG_170383

rupee99

Reasonable or unreasonable does not come in to it. The only statutory right is that you are entitled to a minimum of 28 days annual holiday, to include bank and public holidays, a year. Your employer is entitled to restrict when you take your holiday provided those restrictions do not prevent you taking them over the course of the year.

You may be upset and you may think that your employer has a duty to accomodate your wishes because of your personal circumstances. Unfortunately for you neither of those has a basis in law. It is up to you to negotiate with your employer, if he thinks your recent, although perfectly proper, absences have disrupted his workflow then he is entitled to refuse you leave now. It is up to you, by calm reasoned, argument to pursuade him otherwise.

mikey72

rupee99 wrote: »

Reasonable or unreasonable does not come in to it. The only statutory right is that you are entitled to a minimum of 28 days annual holiday, to include bank and public holidays, a year. Your employer is entitled to restrict when you take your holiday provided those restrictions do not prevent you taking them over the course of the year.

You may be upset and you may think that your employer has a duty to accomodate your wishes because of your personal circumstances. Unfortunately for you neither of those has a basis in law. It is up to you to negotiate with your employer, if he thinks your recent, although perfectly proper, absences have disrupted his workflow then he is entitled to refuse you leave now. It is up to you, by calm reasoned, argument to pursuade him otherwise.

Maternity leave, paternity leave, parental leave?