Holidays/Leave

LegacyUser

Going unregged for this... I'm not sure how to handle a situation in work with my manager. Is there a minimum notice period to have your request approved/declined when requesting leave (ie one day)? I'm in the same company about 6 years now and have moved up to a senior position and do a lot of work out of hours so i build up lieu time. I log this and it gets added to my holiday balance so no probs there. The problem is actually getting the time off!! We log our requests thru a web app in work, this mails our manager and he approves/declines the request. He's taken to just letting the request sit there for weeks so we don't know if its approved or declined until we ask him. When you ask its like 20 questions "do you NEED the time off cos we're busy" etc etc. I don't think I should have to justify/explain when I need a day off when i'm entitled to it by law(he's like this even when we're not busy too). Another example is a death in the family this week and I was asked would I be back after the funeral and I told I didn't need to leave early the day of the removal because it was after work hours. I was out sick yesterday (i have a bad cold) and i'm debating whether to go back in on Monday or call in sick again for a few days and just land him in it because he doesn't seem to realize the amount of work i do!?

Shelflife

not sure if there is a legal timeframe involved , but it makes sense to make a decision asap so that he can organise cover/rotas etc.

he has no reason to ask why you need time off but sometimes it helps when making the decision, ie 2 people want march 10th off , 1 to go shopping and 1 for his sons confirmation if you can only give 1 a day off then that information is handy.

Personally i try to make those decisions within a day or so.

Jo King

Your manager has a discretion in whether or not he sanctions time off at any particular time and is entitled to wait before committing himself if the possibility of othere absences or greater than anticipated workload arises. However, if the manager is using his discretion arbitrarily of capriciously that is harassment. It is a sign of a poor calibre manager to behave in this way.
If you are not genuinely sick and you are starting to deliberately avoid work it is a sign that you have become demotivated. This will eventually show up in your work performance.
Complaining to senior management may be counter productive. Managers like that one can be very devious and will paint you as the villian of the piece. Getting together with some co-workers who are experiencing similar issues and making a combined approach may be the best thing.

InReality

I think there can be exceptional cases to refuse holidays, but the norm should be to approve them.
I especially dislike when people are told what with their time around funerals - there should be no need if a person has any sensitivity to be saying things like "x didn't need to leave early the day of the removal because it was after work hours".
Thats really out of order.

ALFIET

Unregistered wrote: »

Going unregged for this... I'm not sure how to handle a situation in work with my manager. Is there a minimum notice period to have your request approved/declined when requesting leave (ie one day)? I'm in the same company about 6 years now and have moved up to a senior position and do a lot of work out of hours so i build up lieu time. I log this and it gets added to my holiday balance so no probs there. The problem is actually getting the time off!! We log our requests thru a web app in work, this mails our manager and he approves/declines the request. He's taken to just letting the request sit there for weeks so we don't know if its approved or declined until we ask him. When you ask its like 20 questions "do you NEED the time off cos we're busy" etc etc. I don't think I should have to justify/explain when I need a day off when i'm entitled to it by law(he's like this even when we're not busy too). Another example is a death in the family this week and I was asked would I be back after the funeral and I told I didn't need to leave early the day of the removal because it was after work hours. I was out sick yesterday (i have a bad cold) and i'm debating whether to go back in on Monday or call in sick again for a few days and just land him in it because he doesn't seem to realize the amount of work i do!?

Hi, you have worked there for 6 years and have obviously performed well in that you have been promoted. So PLEASE do not let yourself down by playing the sickie card.

If you are peeved at the way he is handling it, why dont you ask to talk to him and explain that while you know that time off is granted in line with business needs and is not an automatic guarantee, it would be great if he could let you know a little sooner where possible, and that if there any queries relating to workload questions etc that he needs to iron out first that he comes and let you know.
Most managers dont want to know why but they do need to understand that you must have the time off esp if they have other things they are trying to juggle.
Just talk to him face to face and maturely, dont go in guns blazing and DONT ruin your good name by pulling sickies....

You are entitled to annual leave alright but not to take it when you wish to. And just coz it doesnt look busy there could be otehr considerations that you are not privvy to.

However, contiue to follow the booking request process as it stands and then follow it up with a quick chat about it face to face.

LegacyUser

hehe well i jinxed myself cos i've been sick as a parrot since posting - mocking is catching!! Getting better now so should be back this week. Loads of probs while i've been off and non-stop texts so hopefully it'll show him what I actually do in there and to treat me a bit better. I'm not looking for any special treatment just some consideration which I think I've earned over the last few years!