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Work and Annual Leave

  • 06-11-2007 10:17am
    #1
    giardiniera
    Closed Accounts Posts: 103 ✭✭


    Can an employer refuse to allow staff to take friday's off as part of their annual leave. Can they insist that the employee only take full weeks?


Comments

  • #2
    Jo King
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 2,139 ✭✭✭Jo King


    giardiniera wrote: »
    Can an employer refuse to allow staff to take friday's off as part of their annual leave. Can they insist that the employee only take full weeks?

    Yes.


  • #3
    Tails142
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,120 ✭✭✭Tails142


    o rly?


  • #4
    seamus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 68,190 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    Annual leave is at the employer's discretion, not the employee's. It is up to the employer to decide when the employee is to take annual leave and to provide sufficient notice to the employee. The onus is also on the employer to ensure that all annual leave is taken within the annual leave year or within six months of the end of the year, with agreement from the employee.

    For the sake of being a decent employer, most employers allow the employee to choose their own holidays, but retain the right to refuse requested leave. However, doing it this way still doesn't exonerate the employer from their responsibilities.

    So yes, an employer can insist that an employee only take full weeks.


  • #5
    Gobán Saor
    Closed Accounts Posts: 415 ✭✭Gobán Saor


    seamus wrote: »
    Annual leave is at the employer's discretion, not the employee's.
    That's not quite true. The Organisation of Working Time Act (see S20, Times and pay for annual leave, quoted below) puts some constraints on this discretion. The employer must consult with the employee one month in advance of the leave period and take his/her family responsibilities into account. Having done that, the employer can then determine when the annual leave is to be taken. So, the employer can't just say "you've gotta take next week off as part of your annual leave." In any event the employee is entitled to insist on at least one period of 14 consecutive calendar days leave in the year.

    Furthermore, if the employer has a system or policy (or even a custom and practise) of allocating leave and this is promulgated by means of a staff manual, memo, noticeboard, etc., it could be argued that this is incorporated into the contract of employment and cannot be changed unilaterally by the employer.

    20.—(1) The times at which annual leave is granted to an employee shall be determined by his or her employer having regard to work requirements and subject—


    ( a ) to the employer taking into account—


    (i) the need for the employee to reconcile work and any family responsibilities,


    (ii) the opportunities for rest and recreation available to the employee,


    ( b ) to the employer having consulted the employee or the trade union (if any) of which he or she is a member, not later than 1 month before the day on which the annual leave or, as the case may be, the portion thereof concerned is due to commence, and


    ( c ) to the leave being granted within the leave year to which it relates or, with the consent of the employee, within the 6 months thereafter.


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