Holiday Restriction

ami66

I recently attended a job interview but suggested to the interviewer we terminate it early and save our time. Simple reason the company's holiday policy BANNED any leave during July & August

I have two children and refuse to take them out of school for holidays especially as they are at the GCSE and A Level years so working for this company would mean no family summer holidays :mad:

When I spoke to my husband after we wondered while it's clearly their policy and we feel it unfair we did wonder if legally a company could make such a restriction?

pawsies

Could you not have used Christmas or Easter Holidays?

jobbingmusician

Short answer - yes they can. They can require you to take your holiday at any time convenient to them.

DVardysShadow

Legally they can apply such a restriction. There are some businesses where I can see a legit need for such a restriction - eg anything on Brighton pier. But if there is no obvious need, then it looks to me like they just have too many employees wanting holiday in those months so they are looking to dump on a newcomer.

pawsies wrote: »

Could you not have used Christmas or Easter Holidays?

Presumably OP knows her own mind on this, hence calling a halt to the interview.

ami66

pawsies wrote: »

Could you not have used Christmas or Easter Holidays?

Nope, the family owns a week on a canal boat, bought it about 6 years ago and have another 9 years to go. Boats are off the Canal at Christmas, Easter is possible but unlikely given some of the other holiday restrictions this company had.

jobbingmusician wrote: »

Short answer - yes they can. They can require you to take your holiday at any time convenient to them.

Thought they probably could, as far as we could see it they are making it as hard as possible to take holiday.

The company only closes Christmas Day & Boxing and so would be expected to work the other days, then the same at Easter. The office closes bank holidays but not the depot so would be expected to work 'some' bank holidays.

Holiday allowance is 20 days with only one member of staff off at a time in the office of 7 staff. Oh and only one week at a time.

So if you take out Christmas, Easter, July and August is doesn't leave much - does it?


All in all I just felt they weren't going to be the nicest of employers to work for.

art_for_arts_sake

Funny, I was discussing the legality of this with my wife only this morning. We have the opposite problem. Her employer does have children at school so picks the staff holidays to suit himself. We have no offspring of school age but still have to take holidays in school time. It all sounds very wrong to me in the 21st century, more the kind of thing 19th century millworkers would have to put up with or lose their jobs. Bigger firms with more staff are sometimes more flexible, but not always.

PasturesNew

I've seen jobs advertised at a hotel where you can't take any holidays at all until January, when the whole place closes for 4 weeks and all staff take all holidays then.

ami66

art_for_arts_sake wrote: »

Funny, I was discussing the legality of this with my wife only this morning. We have the opposite problem. Her employer does have children at school so picks the staff holidays to suit himself. We have no offspring of school age but still have to take holidays in school time. It all sounds very wrong to me in the 21st century, more the kind of thing 19th century millworkers would have to put up with or lose their jobs. Bigger firms with more staff are sometimes more flexible, but not always.

At my current job we have a member of staff that always wants Christmas and the last two weeks of August for her son's benefit. Except son is now 16 left school and went to France on his own in August.

Wonder what her excuse will be for next August's holiday?

PasturesNew wrote: »

I've seen jobs advertised at a hotel where you can't take any holidays at all until January, when the whole place closes for 4 weeks and all staff take all holidays then.

At least it's advertised as such, this restriction was only told to me during the interview. I wouldn't have applied if I had known in advance.

Bright side, I got to practice my interviewing :rotfl:

cottonhead

Probably better you found out when you did. My company is similar. There is a strict number of people allowed off during the summer and xmas holidays and its always the mums who want the time off. I am a mum so I want the time too but I do feel sorry for the people without kids. They tend to ask for the leave not so far in advance as they are not working to school rotas and by then its all been booked by others. Seems rather unfair but I guess business needs have to dictate at the end of the day. Have you investigated term time only contracts ? Depends what job you do I guess but its a good option for some. Means your pay is less but then you dont have to pay childcare so it might even out.

art_for_arts_sake

ami66 wrote: »

Bright side, I got to practice my interviewing :rotfl:

There's nothing like telling an interviewer you don't want their job. On one occasion when I did it the employer and interviewer was speechless with rage (I've never seen anyone so angry) when I tactfully told him he wasn't paying enough to live on IMHO:D, this was before the NMW. Better to walk out with your head held high than submit to unreasonable working conditions and lose all self-respect. At another (exit) interview I had the pleasure of telling the company why I didn't want to work for them. At the time they were considered to be a prestigious company to work for, but I was unimpressed.

RadoJo

It must be legal given that the entire teaching profession have to take their holidays during those times. Business needs come before those of individual employees, but you'd have thought that advertising it would make sense for them as well as any prospective employees.