Holidays

Huggles

Quick question, do you have to take two weeks holidays together by law? I heard that somewhere. The reason I am asking is because my boss has asked me to only take a week and using teh rest of my time of on teh odd days here and there plus long weekend (fridays and mondays). It pissed me off as I was planning an American trip in August.

I guess its because we are really busy at the moment and I am the only person in the office that can fill my role. When I am not there the work is not done.

I have suggested getting help but he is having none of it, his project timeframes are unrealistic and have said as much but again he is having none of it so I end up working a lot more...Have work to do this wekend for Tuesday!
I thought the two weeks would be fair enough after the OT I put in but no....

What can I do?

Litcagral

TheGooner wrote:

Quick question, do you have to take two weeks holidays together by law? I heard that somewhere. The reason I am asking is because my boss has asked me to only take a week and using teh rest of my time of on teh odd days here and there plus long weekend (fridays and mondays). It pissed me off as I was planning an American trip in August.

I guess its because we are really busy at the moment and I am the only person in the office that can fill my role. When I am not there the work is not done.

I have suggested getting help but he is having none of it, his project timeframes are unrealistic and have said as much but again he is having none of it so I end up working a lot more...Have work to do this wekend for Tuesday!
I thought the two weeks would be fair enough after the OT I put in but no....

What can I do?

Yes you are entitled by law to two unbroken weeks if you have worked for more than 8 months:

Organisation of Working Time Act

Entitlement to annual leave. 19.—(1) Subject to the First Schedule (which contains transitional provisions in respect of the leave years 1996 to 1998), an employee shall be entitled to paid annual leave (in this Act referred to as "annual leave") equal to—

( a ) 4 working weeks in a leave year in which he or she works at least 1,365 hours (unless it is a leave year in which he or she changes employment),
( b ) one-third of a working week for each month in the leave year in which he or she works at least 117 hours, or
( c ) 8 per cent. of the hours he or she works in a leave year (but subject to a maximum of 4 working weeks):
Provided that if more than one of the preceding paragraphs is applicable in the case concerned and the period of annual leave of the employee, determined in accordance with each of those paragraphs, is not identical, the annual leave to which the employee shall be entitled shall be equal to whichever of those periods is the greater.

(2) A day which would be regarded as a day of annual leave shall, if the employee concerned is ill on that day and furnishes to his or her employer a certificate of a registered medical practitioner in respect of his or her illness, not be regarded, for the purposes of this Act, as a day of annual leave.

(3) The annual leave of an employee who works 8 or more months in a leave year shall, subject to the provisions of any employment regulation order, registered employment agreement, collective agreement or any agreement between the employee and his or her employer, include an unbroken period of 2 weeks.

(4) Notwithstanding subsection (2) or any other provision of this Act but without prejudice to the employee's entitlements under subsection (1), the reference in subsection (3) to an unbroken period of 2 weeks includes a reference to such a period that includes one or more public holidays or days on which the employee concerned is ill.

(5) An employee shall, for the purposes of subsection (1), be regarded as having worked on a day of annual leave the hours he or she would have worked on that day had it not been a day of annual leave.

(6) References in this section to a working week shall be construed as references to the number of days that the employee concerned usually works in a week.

BC

Check the contract.

That act seems to state that an agreement between the employee and employer can supercede taking 2 weeks so it probably depends on what contract was signed.

leeroybrown

One thing to note, assuming you havn't signed away this two week period, is that while you are entitled to an unbroken two week holiday your employer has the right to decide when they are willing to let you go on holiday. They could easily say that they don't want you to go on holiday then.