Can my employer make me cancel my leave?

Savvy_Sue

paddedjohn wrote: »

Amongst all the garbled language, all that explains is the notice periods required for requesting holidays and for denying the requests

I wasn't so sure ... I thought it could be read that the same provisions applied for cancelling leave already booked, but it's too late for me to re-read it and decide if that's a reasonable interpretation or not!

andygb

It is worth looking at the very first lines from the OP again.

"Earlier this year, I requested a 3 week holiday in November to visit my family. This is from my holiday allowance. The request was approved by my manager, tickets booked, plans made, etc."


Whichever way you look at the employment laws, this is way outside the time limits.
A holiday agreed with the employer and bookings made.
If any employer of mine tried to force me to give this up, they would find themselves having to pay me lots of compensation in addition to all costs incurred.

Funky_Bold_Ribena

The employer hasn't asked this as far as we know.

HardCoreProgrammer

Thank you for all your reply. I was so tired from work that I was not able to reply to you until now.

andygb, I wish I was 007! All I did was do a google for "employer cancel holiday" and it found a number of threads in this forum for the same subject. I cannot post links as I do not have the privilege, but please look for thread ID 2521793, 2291897, etc.
What you said in the last post is correct. The holiday has been approved, and management has not spoken to me about cancelling yet. It is 4 weeks to go until the holiday now.

Savvy_Sue, paddedjohn, ValHaller, agrinnall,

So the point you were arguing about the 3 weeks notice the employer needs to give by law in this case is: whether it is for turning down a holiday request, or for cancelling a holiday request.

I can see that there is no consensus yet.

Le73Uq86Uv,

>> If the employer is willing to make up any loses you have incured I can see no reason to not give up the holiday.
But my guess is they will not as it would be cheaper to get an agency to cover the work.

Unfortunately it is not possible to bring in outside help because our work is quite specialised. It took me about 6 months in the job to be productive, and this was an average figure.

I would give up my holiday grudgingly, if only not make myself a pariah in the team (assuming I still want to work in this job). I would be very unhappy with managment for not sorting out appropriate staffing levels, and then putting me on the spot and making it as if it is all my fault if I take my holiday (which I am entitled to and got approval for) and something serious happens.

Wyndham

Do NOT take a laptop on holiday with you. You get holiday for a reason, and part of that is to have a break and recharge your batteries. If you take a laptop, you'll continue to focus on work and it will eat into your holiday. You'll return from holiday feeling unrefreshed and unrecharged (if that's a word?)

And, not sure who you are going on holiday with, but I can't see any family being pleased if you're working when they want to have fun.

Personally I'd stand my ground - this was booked some time ago, and you are going away so there would be costs involved in cancelling. It's not your fault that the company don't have cover in place. If you do cancel your holiday, it won't be the last time it happens, I can promise you that.

Savvy_Sue

I might start making noises about your holiday now though: we all do this at work, just drop into conversation that "of course I won't be here when X happens".

It does help concentrate minds ... even when it's just an odd day! I had to send an email on Friday asking about interview questions needed for Wednesday, I'm not in on Tuesday and one of the panel isn't in on Monday OR Tuesday!