Employer taking annual leave entitlement from us for days off when cover has been arranged.

juejue74

Hi. In my job, if annual leave has been rejected for any reason, or if an absence is needed last minute, we rally among ouselves (employees) to try and get cover for the day/s. More often than not it is agreed between us... i.e., 'you cover me this day and I return the cover for that day', so the shifts are covered. However, our employer has recently informed us (not officially) that they have been taking annual leave entitlement from us for the last few months for days where we found cover, and are going to do this moving forward (if we have any annual leave days left) or we will have it as unpaid if we have no annual leave remaining. Is this legal? There is nothing in writing anywhere in our contracts, and until recently cover has been arranged as unpaid for the absentee (made up again by covering someone else). I hope this makes sense. Thanks.    

HampshireH

Regardless of if you get cover if that isn't authorised I'm surprised they haven't picked you up for being AWOL.

You can't just get your shifts covered and not turn up unless the policy allows you to take more time off than your leave allowance on this basis

Has no one noticed their pay being made up of holiday pay rather than salary before now?

juejue74

Cover is always authorised by management after a mutual agreement has been made between employees that the shift is covered. 

The employees who get cover, get the same pay each month as they still do the same hours (making up their leave by covering the same hours for someone else).

Its only recently that agreed cover has been put down as annual leave rather than unpaid leave, without giving us anyting in writing.  

elsien

So if you are being deducted a days leave for the day you’re not doing, are you instead of being paid overtime for the extra day that you do instead? 

HampshireH

Ask to see the policy

Hoenir

Irrespective of whether you find cover or not. Your absence is annual leave. If somebody else works that shift then they should get paid for it. Informal agreements of this nature can soon up being abused. 

Andy_L

As a shift job the employer may not have enough workers to cover all shifts if staff are taking both their full annual leave allowance as well as unpaid leave & have made this change to stop that happening

There is a legal right to annual leave, there is no legal right to unpaid leave except for emergency leave to look after dependants.

sheramber

juejue74 said:

Hi. In my job, if annual leave has been rejected for any reason, or if an absence is needed last minute, we rally among ouselves (employees) to try and get cover for the day/s. More often than not it is agreed between us... i.e., 'you cover me this day and I return the cover for that day', so the shifts are covered. However, our employer has recently informed us (not officially) that they have been taking annual leave entitlement from us for the last few months for days where we found cover, and are going to do this moving forward (if we have any annual leave days left) or we will have it as unpaid if we have no annual leave remaining. Is this legal? There is nothing in writing anywhere in our contracts, and until recently cover has been arranged as unpaid for the absentee (made up again by covering someone else). I hope this makes sense. Thanks.    

Is there anything in your contract that says you can arrange cover to take time off?

EnPointe

Hoenir said:

Irrespective of whether you find cover or not. Your absence is annual leave. If somebody else works that shift then they should get paid for it. Informal agreements of this nature can soon up being abused. 

This is very strange take  

even where fixed rotas are in place swapping shifts of 'acceptable comparable'  staff   is not  a problem  as the head count  for each shift is  met  and there is not net loss or gain of worked time. 

it can be an accounting issue if it;s across  pay periods ( as one worker is up hours and the other down hours for that pay period  but  it  all sorts itself out) 

one for one or even three way shift swaps in the same pay  or rostering period  ( or in some cases Quarter)   have never been an in issue  in organsiation i;ve worked for both public and private secotrs 

EnPointe

sheramber said:

juejue74 said:

Hi. In my job, if annual leave has been rejected for any reason, or if an absence is needed last minute, we rally among ouselves (employees) to try and get cover for the day/s. More often than not it is agreed between us... i.e., 'you cover me this day and I return the cover for that day', so the shifts are covered. However, our employer has recently informed us (not officially) that they have been taking annual leave entitlement from us for the last few months for days where we found cover, and are going to do this moving forward (if we have any annual leave days left) or we will have it as unpaid if we have no annual leave remaining. Is this legal? There is nothing in writing anywhere in our contracts, and until recently cover has been arranged as unpaid for the absentee (made up again by covering someone else). I hope this makes sense. Thanks.    

Is there anything in your contract that says you can arrange cover to take time off?

why would it be in the contract ? rather than in the rosters and  pay roll policy ?

EnPointe

Andy_L said:

As a shift job the employer may not have enough workers to cover all shifts if staff are taking both their full annual leave allowance as well as unpaid leave & have made this change to stop that happening

There is a legal right to annual leave, there is no legal right to unpaid leave except for emergency leave to look after dependants.

and the relevance of that observation to a Shift swap  scenario is what exactly ?