Employers denying time off during X month(s)?

Van Hellseek

Van Hellseek

Van Hellseek

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Seems to me that there is an increasing trend for employers to tell their staff that they are not allowed to take any time off during the companies busy periods.

In my last two jobs I have been told I can't take any time off at all during December.

My friend has been told he's not allwed to take any more than two days at a time during sept-Nov (inclusive)! :eek:

I'm more than a bit miffed at this because my friend and I were planning on going on holiday this autumn/winter and now we can't because between us we cant take time off from september until January!

Anyone else have this problem?

Are employers being fair with this? Or should they hire enough staff to cover their asses so they don't have to be ****'s to their existing employees?
 
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I get told I am not allowed to take time off at Quarter and Year ends.. Also, It seems I not allowed to take frequent smaller holiday breaks, as it is "too disruptive".

I also wanted to check on the laws of this.
 
Meridian said:
Yes, it's common. But it could be worse: some companies just tell you when you have to take your holiday.


M
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I get that too, around xmas day we're usually forced to take a few days holiday as it suits the company. :/

Thankfully it only applies for around 3 days though. Any more than that and I'd find a new employer.

(still unfair though, forcing you to spend your holiday. They certainly didn't mention anything about that in the job interview. I'd rather take time off when I need/want it).
 
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I have that same problem. I work in a bar and we have plenty staff to cover for us and we can even get other staff from the owners other bars if needed but we arent allowed any holiday during december. Which is a kick in the balls for me as its my birthday then and i usually go away. Next year im going to Las Vegas for my 21st so hoping i get another job by then or il be quitting it
 
seek said:
In my last two jobs I have been told I can't take any time off at all during December.

My friend has been told he's not allwed to take any more than two days at a time during sept-oct! :eek:

I'm more than a bit miffed at this because my friend and I were planning on going on holiday this autumn/winter and now we can't because between us we cant take time off from september until January!
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Go in November?
 
I had a similar situation when I was going back to Finland with my boyfriend for my graduation. We work at the same place and applied for holidays over a month in advance. A week before we were supposed to leave we noticed his request was still pending while mine had been approved ages ago. We asked what was up and they denied his holidays with only six days' notice. Kicked up a fuss, he seriously considered quitting, and got the holidays approved. We're both so ready to leave anyway that it wouldn't have mattered if he had quit.

Wonder what would have happened if we hadn't noticed the request was still pending..

Obviously you don't want to take such drastic action if you're not actually prepared to quit, but I read up on the legal side of this when we were fighting with the HR, and apparently (according to Citizen's Advice) employers can deny you holiday whenever they want but they have to give you notice of at least the amount of days that you want off. It sucks, and even though it's the law, I don't think it's right. I'm not personally responsible for the HR's incompetence in finding enough workforce and it shouldn't affect my basic rights such as taking time off work.
 
My office was much more lenient. They didnt care who had holiday when as long as there was enough people to run the place. That usually meant a FFA for Christmas but luckily my particular job (statistics) was only handled by 2 people, so we just took alternating Christmas' on and off.
 
Malt_Vinegar said:
I get told I am not allowed to take time off at Quarter and Year ends.. Also, It seems I not allowed to take frequent smaller holiday breaks, as it is "too disruptive".

I also wanted to check on the laws of this.
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I think contractually they can stipulate whatever they want, which sucks royally.

Employers that are tight on holidays can go screw themselves frankly, in my experience it's generally indicative of a very poor attitude towards their workers that they should be glad of a job and holiday is a PITA that they so gracefully allow employees to take rather than their entitlement.

My inclination in your situation would be that whenever they ask you to work late or through lunch, or any such situation to reply that it would be 'too disruptive' to you. :p
 
The probelm is that most peoples holiday entitlement starts in January and Xmas is often the busy period. A lot of people don't realise they have holiday left until the last minute and so try to take it all at the end of the year, crippling the company.

Did you join these companies knowing the holiday restrictions? If so I'm not quite sure what the problem is. If the company is busiest at a certain time of the year its in yours and the companies interest that it doesnt get short staffed at that time. I'd imagine that game developers aren't allowed to take time off during crunch time, that anyone in the armed forces isn't allowed holiday during a tour and so on.
 
AFAIK the only law that applies is the pitiful one about taking a minimum number of days holiday a year (18 including bank holidays is it?).

The OP doesn't say what industry he works in, but tbh if you work in retail for example, I think it's fair enough that the company says you don't take any time off in December. As long as there's a good reason then it's fair enough in my book.
 
My gf old company only allowed full weeks as holidays and not single days. So if she just wanted one day off, she was forced to take the whole week.

Only positive side was at least she had 6 weeks holiday per annum.
 
Todge said:
The probelm is that most peoples holiday entitlement starts in January and Xmas is often the busy period. A lot of people don't realise they have holiday left until the last minute and so try to take it all at the end of the year, crippling the company.
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I work in a hotel (and college). There was no mention of holiday restrictions before I started working for them.

It's understandable that xmas is the busy period, but rather than screw-over their staff they should hire extra staff (if there is need). Even if it's just temps for the busy period.

Denying holidays just makes your employer seem as though they dont give a crap about you or respect your loyalty to the company for the other 11 months of the year.

(our holiday year is march-march, so the crippling excuse doesn't apply).
 
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Same for me, quarter ends (March, June, September, December) are all no-go for holiday. Sure, the odd day will get allowed but that two week holiday? forget it!

It's not in the contract but holiday is with their agreement so they make it clear to avoid disappointment that you shouldn't plan anything during those months.
 
seek said:
I work in a hotel (and college). There was no mention of holiday restrictions before I started working for them.

It's understandable that xmas is the busy period, but rather than screw-over their staff they should hire extra staff (if there is need). Even if it's just temps for the busy period.

Denying holidays just makes your employer seem as though they dont give a crap about you or respect your loyalty to the company for the other 11 months of the year.
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Then you have genuine cause for disgruntlement because you were not informed before you joined the company.

Regardless though, employing extra staff costs more than just restricting its employes at certain times of the year and most will be fine with it so it doesn't hurt the company. Freelance workers can cost a fortune to do exactly the same work and will inevitably jack up rates if they know they are busy. In my industry its common for freelancers to earn £25-30 an hour while the staffers earn £13-15.

I work for a small company who are very good with holiday and will bend over backwards to help us out but thats as much because their fear of us leaving because we dont get a pension or any other benifits. As skilled workers it'd cost them a fortune to train someone up for 3 months all the while having to pay a freelancer to cover my work for 2 months (1 month notice).

If you are dissatisfied I suggest you take it up with whomever controls the holiday, especially if its not in your contract and wasn't mentioned before accepting the position. In more certain times many would just book the holiday and say they are going anyway because the company didn't tell them, but few are so brave with 2.5 million out of work.

Incidently, no company is obliged to give you time off when you have asked for it. If they deem that they need you or can't get other workers in then they are within their right to deny your holiday request at that time. There can be no other way of operating otherwise everyone would take 2 weeks off at xmas and the country would shut down.
 
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Todge said:
Then you have genuine cause for disgruntlement because you were not informed before you joined the company.
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But it wouldn't make a difference to my point if they had mentioned it.

It still wouldn't be right.

I know it would cost them more to hire a temp or two, but we are a relatively small team who are supposed to dedicate most of our lives to the place (which we do!). And it's not like they can't afford a couple of temps to cover loyal long-term staffers holidays anyway.

We are generally not allowed to take time off when other people have already taken time off (which is understandable), so why should it be any different in the busy period? If someone has taken off the weeks I want then ok, first come first served.

But simply saying an outright no to everyone is a blatant "thanks for all your hard work throughout the year, but screw you".
 
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scorza said:
AFAIK the only law that applies is the pitiful one about taking a minimum number of days holiday a year (18 including bank holidays is it?).
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Generally, for people who work a five day week, the statutory minimum is 28 days including bank holidays. Additionally, there are a number of regulations covering Working Time (which includes holiday entitlement) but more specifically, a variety of required notice periods such as how soon before a holiday an employer can cancel planned time off, or when an employer can force an employee to use holiday entitlement.
 
Staff we take on aren't allowed to take their holiday between February/March -> November

It's just a need of the business
 
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