Problem with booking holidays from work

Tracey52

Hi all, I'm looking for advice here to see if I need to take my issue further, I work for a large retail company (don't wish to name just in case ) and I filled in my holiday request form in January after my partner booked a 2week holiday abroad as a surprise and because it was a great deal if he booked there and then. I got a refusal from work with no good reason given except to be verbally told that " too many others have already booked those weeks" I then offered to take part or all of it as unpaid leave & was then told I had to put my request in writing " even though it will probably be refused anyway " . I then put my request in writing as told, and explained why I needed to take the time off, bearing in mind that nowhere in my contract does it say I cannot have 2 consecutive weeks off in the summer & we also have seasonal staff available to cover holidays. I have now received a letter back saying that I can't have this time off as they have no cover as there are already the maximum amount of people off at that time, & what I perceive to be a veiled threat of dismissal if I take the time off anyway, it then goes on to say that however if I can arrange cover myself my request would be reconsidered.
My questions are; firstly, if the company handbook clearly states that colleagues main holidays should be 2 weeks taken between April & October but does NOT say that 2 consecutive weeks in July/ august isn't allowed, can they then refuse it ?
Secondly, if the store managers have available seasonal staff to call on why do I have to find cover myself when I have no access to personal contact details of said seasonal staff ?
thirdly, I have spoken to other colleagues and have discovered that only 2 other people in my section have booked and had approved holidays for the same 2 weeks, one of whom only works one day a week the same as me, but only does 4 hours as opposed to the 7 hours I do on that day so I can't see how that can affect us both being off together.
Lastly I have also discovered that another colleague has had leave of 4 consecutive weeks approved in the summer when I have been told that we are only allowed one week during this time.
I am unsure what to do next as I feel as if I have been treated unfairly but am not sure what to do about it.
Any advice greatly appreciated.

General_Grant

Get their reasoning in writing.

Southend1

Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. You have been given a reason why the request was declined. In fact they have been more than reasonable by offering you the opportunity to find cover for your absence. My advice would be to say thank you to the manager before she changes her mind and start asking around your colleagues to look for cover.

Remember a) you don't have a right to time off whenever you feel like it (unless your contract says so?) and b) you should always book your time off work before organising holidays in case the time off is refused.

Sorry this isn't what you wanted to hear but I hope you manage to find the cover or change your holiday booking so you can enjoy some time together with your partner.

Southend1

General_Grant wrote: »

Get their reasoning in writing.

Why? Even if OP got it in writing, too many people already off is a perfectly good reason for declining the request.

Cyberman60

When I was working it was accepted that not everybody could be off at the same time as obviously the business needs to keep running or you won't have a job. The solution is to plan well ahead and book your holiday before other people do. It would appear that you left it too late. Put it down to experience and make sure you get in early next time.

elsien

The issue seems to be a potential lack of cover. You seem to be focussing on it being two weeks together, when according to what you have written, that has not been put forward as the main reason for the refusal.
It is usual to only have a certain amount of staff leave to be taken at the same time. In my last place it was done on the hours not the number of staff, so either two part timers or one full timer would be allowed. How has it previously been worked out in your workplace?
Again, unpaid leave may not be allowed if the issue is around the practicalities of getting someone in to cover, rather than the cost. Hence the comment about it probably not being agreed if you put the request in. If I only have one relief member of staff to cover for one person's leave, a second person wanting the same time off is going to leave me in difficulties whether it is paid or unpaid.
Telling you that you are jeopardising your job by taking the time off anyway is not a veiled threat, it is a statement of fact. Unauthorised absence is a disciplinary offence and likely to be treated as such.
Perhaps a conversation with your manager about ways to contact seasonal staff to arrange cover? Alternatively are there any part time staff who would be willing to do overtime to cover your shifts? That's likely to be your best option.

Tracey52

Firstly, as I already said there are only 2 people booked off for the same 2 weeks & also as previously said, only 1 of those works 1 day the same as me, all her other shifts are on different days to me so how does it count that we are booked off ' at the same time ' ?
Secondly, also as previously said, if seasonal staff are available, why is the onus on me to find cover when I don't have access to these colleagues to ask them ?
Thirdly, the colleagues that I personally know either already work the same shifts as me so can't cover for my shifts or don't do the same hours so I find it difficult to find people available to cover my shifts.
Lastly, I cannot see why another person is being allowed 4 weeks off for a holiday & I'm refused 2, surely this isn't fair ? Shouldn't ALL colleagues have the same rules ?

double_mummy

the rules are that the company can set when you take your holidays they do not HAVE to give you any choice in the matter - if they really wanted they could tell you what days you are having off as long as you get the right number of days they can pretty much do what they want

it doesnt matter if it is fair or not they have said no so either find a new job, cancel the holiday, find the cover, go without booking holiday and hope you have a job to come back to

Tracey52

OK, looks like I'll be handing my notice in and finding a new job then

Southend1

Tracey52 wrote: »

Firstly, as I already said there are only 2 people booked off for the same 2 weeks & also as previously said, only 1 of those works 1 day the same as me, all her other shifts are on different days to me so how does it count that we are booked off ' at the same time ' ?
Secondly, also as previously said, if seasonal staff are available, why is the onus on me to find cover when I don't have access to these colleagues to ask them ?
Thirdly, the colleagues that I personally know either already work the same shifts as me so can't cover for my shifts or don't do the same hours so I find it difficult to find people available to cover my shifts.
Lastly, I cannot see why another person is being allowed 4 weeks off for a holiday & I'm refused 2, surely this isn't fair ? Shouldn't ALL colleagues have the same rules ?

It's up to the management to decide what level of cover is required to run the business, that's what they are paid for. I expect they have a certain amount of flexibility in rotas to allow for holiday cover but you are asking for leave above and beyond this so they have refused it. They have however offered you the option to find cover yourself, which they don't have to do. You may or may not find it helpful to discuss with the manager how you could go about contacting staff to arrange cover. Otherwise ask around, put a notice in the staff rooms etc.

The person allowed 4 weeks may have exceptional circumstances or may simply have used up all the allocation.they might not even be on holiday.... Could it be sick leave, compassionate leave etc? Perhaps you could get four weeks off too if you asked for them at a different time when the store is quiet and nobody else has booked time off?

I can understand why you are unhappy but imagine what would happen to the business if everyone decided to work when it suited them! The rules are in place for a reason and one consequence is that it protects the operation of the business thus protecting your job!

Nebulous2

You are not going to get very far by arguing about the fairness or otherwise of the decision.

You need to book leave before booking a holiday and because you haven't done that you now need to throw yourself at the mercy of your manager to find a solution.