Partner's holidays issue

ZINXYX

Hello,
My partner's boss wants everyone in her workplace to take their holidays of 20 days in two blocks of 10 days each at a time. They are being forced to take them in each six month period. Is this legal and is there anything she can do?

Her job is strenuous and she usually spreads the holidays over the entire year so that she can have a respite every couple of months.

Besides she always has one fitted to when school is out for the summer holidays so she can have time with the kids.
Please help.

Thanks

saintjammyswine

As far as I am aware the employer can dictate when holidays are taken within the year for business reasons.

flutterby_lil

It doesn't sound right to me, I would think they can stipulate they need to be taken over a set year but not exactly when. But thinking about it, some companies close at xmas and make their staff take holidays then, so maybe they can.

CapJ

It doesn't surprise me. In Financial Services there is often a requirement to take at least 2 weeks holiday in one go - as it is easier to detect any fraud you are performing if you are gone for a longer period. The reason could be something similar to that.

What has your partner said to her employer? Can she make a good case why she should have it differently (perhaps understanding the motivation for the employers requirement and offering a compromise?)

BOBS

My DH works in a large factory and they close down and everyone has to take the same holidays - so he gets 2 weeks in July, 2 Christmas and 1 at easter. Non negotiable ... you are lucky to be able to choose what fortnight within a 6 month period.

DVardysShadow

Depends how far up the food chain her boss is and the type of organisation. Larger organisations tend to be HR led on holiday entitlements and bosses who try and make holidays tidy generally get worked round - partly by the process of everyone demanding exceptions to the point that the boss decides it is tidier left the way it was. If there is an employee handbook, and that addresses holiday entitlement, I would be sticking with that and making the boss justify his requirements on grounds of a genuine business need.

paddedjohn

regardless of what holidays they are used to getting the employer can dictate when and for how long the holidays can be taken. Asaik the handbook is only a guide and can be changed at the employers discretion, im sure SarEl will be along to correct me if im wrong.

DCFC79

Nothing wrong with it OP, it could be detailed in the contract that holidays have to be taken at ser periods.

DVardysShadow

paddedjohn wrote: »

regardless of what holidays they are used to getting the employer can dictate when and for how long the holidays can be taken. Asaik the handbook is only a guide and can be changed at the employers discretion, im sure SarEl will be along to correct me if im wrong.

Yes indeed. Everyone should cave in immediately and recognise that what the Employer says in the Handbook counts for nothing. They should all be bloody grateful to have a job and pay on top is a bonus.

Actually, while the Employer's Handbook can be varied, people should not cave immediately with an issue like holidays - they should put the boss to the challenge of demonstrating a business need and to the embarrassment of being seen to fly against the handbook. In too many workplaces in recent years people have not stood up against bosses who make a pain of themselves for no valid business reason, with the consequence that these bosses make more of a pain of themselves over the years.

SarEl does not have the key to the final word on this, as I think she would agree - the law does not actually address much of this except to presume in the favour of the Employer. So it is necessary to deal with this without the law. A good way can be to draw the distinction between 'Employer' and 'Boss'. In a lot of organisations, the Boss interferes in holidays and issues of the ilk for his own tidy obsessions. But the Employer does not have a genuine business need and through HR is not inclined to support the bosses obsessions.

saintjammyswine

But the employer can dictate when holidays are taken.

DVardysShadow

saintjammyswine wrote: »

But the employer can dictate when holidays are taken.

I would thank you for an obvious comment, but paddedjohn got there first.

This does not mean that the employer [as opposed to Boss] is legally required to dictate, or would even want to dictate or would even support the Boss in dictating.

For goodness sake. Yes, you are stating the bottom line, but there are a whole load of approaches which can be tried to resolve OP's problem before accepting this bottom line. If you don't attempt to give more than the bottom line, in terms of OP's problem, you are being virtually useless. You are saying 'You are doomed, there is nothing which can be done'.You might as well tell the OP not to waste the forum on questions about which noting can be done.