employer has cancelled my pre booked holiday

sangie595

Malthusian wrote: »

At my office (a small business) the "holiday form" is an Excel spreadsheet that looks like a calendar. If you want time off you find your name and cross off the dates you want. Usually you don't even need a verbal OK from a manager. In theory anyone could go into it and uncross the dates so it looked like I hadn't booked it, in order to keep me at work or to book the time off for themselves - but this being a very small office we trust each other not to do that. So what the OP is describing makes sense to me. The "holiday form" may be a calendar that you edit directly rather than a form you fill in and submit. She didn't feel the need to print off a copy because it didn't enter her mind that someone might change it.

OP: In general I agree with the advice already given. Are you absolutely certain you didn't forget to book the time off? If you don't get formal confirmation that the holiday has been booked, it's easier to think you've booked it when you haven't. I find it a bit hard to believe that an employer would secretly remove a whole week's holiday from the system. What if you'd already paid for your flights to California and hotel room? They'd have to be really stupid to think you'd just swallow it, waste thousands of pounds and go to work instead of flying off.

Sorry. But what you do in your office is irrelevant. What the law says is that you ask for holiday and the employer agrees it, or not. Honestly, it's great you have a system that works with colleagues you trust. But not everyone has.

TyreLever

ohreally wrote: »

Why do you need a reference when you already have a new job?

Because his new job offer is on condition that he can provide a good reference. Goes without saying but you asked for it to be said, so I said it.

The whole reference thing is an annoying tactic. However the advantage is that you are far less likely to be working alongside ex felons, drug addicts or downright lazy useless people if you do get a job.

sangie595

TyreLever wrote: »

Because his new job offer is on condition that he can provide a good reference. Goes without saying but you asked for it to be said, so I said it.

The whole reference thing is an annoying tactic. However the advantage is that you are far less likely to be working alongside ex felons, drug addicts or downright lazy useless people if you do get a job.

You are aware of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act? Given the statistics on offending and convictions, the chances are that you have worked alongside "ex felons" on many occasions are very high. You just didn't know, and didn't need to know. People change.

getmore4less

sangie595 wrote: »

Sorry. But what you do in your office is irrelevant. What the law says is that you ask for holiday and the employer agrees it, or not. Honestly, it's great you have a system that works with colleagues you trust. But not everyone has.

What the law says is you request the holiday and unless the employer says no within the time scales allowed, you are entitled to take it.

To override that would need a contractual policy that says all holidays must be approved(which many probably most have)

paddedjohn

I'm lucky in my job, only 2 of us work alternative shifts so if I want holidays I ask him to provide cover and he asks me, only down side is doing 21 x 12 hour nights on the bounce but it's more than made up for with the overtime pay ����

getmore4less

paddedjohn wrote: »

I'm lucky in my job, only 2 of us work alternative shifts so if I want holidays I ask him to provide cover and he asks me, only down side is doing 21 x 12 hour nights on the bounce but it's more than made up for with the overtime pay ����

Quite sneaky if they don't accrue holidays on covered shifts.

Because you have to cover the shifts they should be part of your contract and accrue holidays.

paddedjohn

I'm not forced to cover, we get left alone to sort our shifts/holidays out and any cover I provide is overtime. We already get over and above the minimum 19.6 days allowed so it's beneficial to both of us especially this month with nearly £3k overtime coming my way.

MrsTinks

References... your employer can't give you a bad reference...

They could I guess fail to give one though. But if they are this petty then I would question if they would give you one anyway when you resign?

I would speak to the new employer and explain what has happened, explain that there is a possibility that your current employer may refuse to give you a reference as a result. I've employed people a lot and 99% of the time I don't pursue references because it's utterly utterly pointless anyway... previous employers will never tell me someone is late 50% of the time, even if they wanted to they can't. So instead I have 3 month probation on new employees, found that far more productive in helping me find good people.

kingfisherblue

Mrs Tinks, you are wrong. An employer can give a bad reference, providing it is factual and correct. They can also tell future potential employers if someone is late regularly. It is a myth that a bad reference cannot be given. However, as I have already said, it has to be factual.

It is often easier for employers to refuse to give a reference, but if they do give one and it states poor timekeeping or regular sickness, they should be able to back it up.

TBagpuss

References... your employer can't give you a bad reference...

That's not quite correct.

If an employer gives a reference then it must be truthful. So they can't* give a bad reference if what they state in it is inaccuarate.

However, they can chose not to give a reference at all, or to give a purely factual reference (e.g. X worked here in [names role] from [date] to [date])

*(Well, they can, but they might be liable if you suffered loss as a result)