Does your employer tell you when to take your annual leave?

Liz3yy

My workplace is pretty flexible concerning holidays, they only ask that we give at least a weeks notice for a single day off and at least a months notice fora week. I also need to ensure that any time off I want doesn't clash with a colleague I work with as we cover each other.

CrowCrow

Contractor so the assumption is you won't take holiday or if you do you take it around the business needs. It's normally grabbing a few extra days around bank holidays.

We have to arrange cover, so provided you're friends with someone there isn't much of an issue with covering each other for a week or 10 days. Management rarely objects if someone is covering.

C_Mababejive

Liz3yy wrote: »

My workplace is pretty flexible concerning holidays, they only ask that we give at least a weeks notice for a single day off and at least a months notice fora week. I also need to ensure that any time off I want doesn't clash with a colleague I work with as we cover each other.

Thats far more than the law requires. The law sets a minimum notice period of twice the period of the holiday so for a one day break you need only give two days notice.

C_Mababejive

CrowCrow wrote: »

Contractor so the assumption is you won't take holiday or if you do you take it around the business needs. It's normally grabbing a few extra days around bank holidays.

We have to arrange cover, so provided you're friends with someone there isn't much of an issue with covering each other for a week or 10 days. Management rarely objects if someone is covering.

Is the requirement to get cover in your employment contract?

dori2o

My employer has recently decided that everyone must book 2 weeks leave during the ‘Summer months‘ (July/August/Sptember) I know September isn‘t summer but these seems to be the worst months for getting leave, plus it covers most of the school summer holidays.

I‘ve recentlymoved to term time working, so I‘m off anyway for 6 weeks from the end of July to the 2nd week in September so had assumed that this wouldn‘t affect me. Oh how wrong I was. I still have to book 2 weeks , either together or 2 seperate weeks during these months.

My issue is that as I now work part time/term time my average working week is just over 21 hours which is what my annual leave is calculated from (31.5 days at 4.31 hours per day) so I get about 135 hours anual leave.

However, whilst my average working week is 21.57 hours, I actualy work 30 hours a week for 38 weeks a year. That means that if I am forced to take 2 weeks off in these months, despite the fact I don‘t actually work for 6 weeks during that period, I would have to use 60 hours leave which is almost half of the annual entitlement I get.

Hopefully I can get them to see sense.

Elfbert

We just ask whenever and hope we're not too busy. Sometimes the boss asks if we can jiggle the dates a little, so that either your holiday doesn't clash with someone else, or you avoid a work deadline, but it's all very relaxed. If we're really quiet work wise you can ask for the next day off. The boss would rather you used holiday then than during a busy time! We have a semi-enforced shut-down over Christmas - you could work, but it's really not good health and safety if you're lone working (it's a workshop), so it's up to you to persuade someone to work with you

There's only 7 of us in all, so it's very relaxed.

CrowCrow

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Is the requirement to get cover in your employment contract?

No, I have a business to business contract. The terms are a lot vaguer. The term states I have complete discretion in the way in which i provide my service to my client. In reality, like all bespoke businesses, I tailor to all reasonable requests of my client. I'm in a support role so I obviously need to be on hand during the hours those I support work 9-5 ish.

I could tell them I'm not in tomorrow and that would be withing my 'rights' under our contract. However it's under their rights to terminate the contract. So it's all about negotiation. Most clients accept contractors will want some time off, especially if they have long contracts.

Arranging cover between us just saves management a job. It's just the culture of contractors in general, we like to at least maintain an air of professionalism and pretend we are eager to help our clients.

BeansOnToast_2

I take them whenever I want. In over 30 years working there I've never had a holiday request declined.

JoolzS

bugslet wrote: »

Tell him not to take up truck driving - we can rarely tell anyone what they are doing until the afternoon before, unless there is a complicated move ahead. Some of my lads have come in the morning thinking they were doing nothing much and next minute they are heading off abroad.

That's the thing my husband absolutely LOVES about his job as a truck driver. I don't understand it, but it's lovely now much he likes going to work. If he has two weeks off then he's itching to get back to it.

bugslet

C_Mababejive wrote: »

Thats far more than the law requires. The law sets a minimum notice period of twice the period of the holiday so for a one day break you need only give two days notice.

If you come into our place and say can I have the next day off, we will accomodate if we can. We don't have a specific period in which you need to advise of a week or more off, but no-one seems to take the michael. As I say we only really have the no more than 1 or 2 people depending on the branch off at any one time rule; we can't as a business handle too many people off at once.

JoolzS wrote: »

That's the thing my husband absolutely LOVES about his job as a truck driver. I don't understand it, but it's lovely now much he likes going to work. If he has two weeks off then he's itching to get back to it.

I hope that continues JoolzS:). Some people love it (mostly) all their lives. I still love the industry despite the negative stereotypes, though I rarely get out and drive myself these days - spend my time glued to a desk!