Work rota being changed - 6 weeks before my 3 week holiday

Dr Nic

Hi there,
We work shift - kind of.
We got our xmas rota about 2 months ago and i planned xmas holidays around it and have paid deposits etc. a lot of money and plans made

Now work are going to radically change our rota, and arent going to tell us what until end of november.

It will almost def feck up my hol plans.
Is there anything that i can do about this?
Whats the legal standing?
Thanks!

Bepolite

Dr Nic wrote: »

Hi there,
We work shift - kind of.
We got our xmas rota about 2 months ago and i planned xmas holidays around it and have paid deposits etc. a lot of money and plans made

Now work are going to radically change our rota, and arent going to tell us what until end of november.

It will almost def feck up my hol plans.
Is there anything that i can do about this?
Whats the legal standing?
Thanks!

You've booked holidays around your shifts I take it. You've not got much recourse, you should have block booked the time and then asked for the days off back. Approach your line manager and try to reach a compromise.

Dr Nic

Oh no, i have block booked my holidays with my line manager. I have written evidence of same
But we also do call with is set by a different manager.
This call is what might affect my hols...

Its complex, and a disgrace actually butim just wondering about the legal standing?

Bepolite

Dr Nic wrote: »

Oh no, i have block booked my holidays with my line manager. I have written evidence of same
But we also do call with is set by a different manager.
This call is what might affect my hols...

Its complex, and a disgrace actually butim just wondering about the legal standing?

You can't be on call during block booked holidays.

LionelNashe

Dr Nic wrote: »

Oh no, i have block booked my holidays with my line manager. I have written evidence of same
But we also do call with is set by a different manager.
This call is what might affect my hols...

Its complex, and a disgrace actually butim just wondering about the legal standing?

I don't understand this sentence? What's call?

Bepolite

LionelNashe wrote: »

I don't understand this sentence? What's call?

I just took a guess to be honest :pac:

LionelNashe

Dr Nic wrote: »

Oh no, i have block booked my holidays with my line manager. I have written evidence of same
But we also do call with is set by a different manager.
This call is what might affect my hols...

Its complex, and a disgrace actually butim just wondering about the legal standing?

Well if the first manager has the authority to grant you the holidays, then that's cut and dried, you're on holidays, I reckon. If he doesn't have the authority, however, if you should have gotten it cleared by the second guy, then you're stuck. If it's only a case of being on call though, can't you make a deal with a co-worker for them to cover it?

edit: I've just checked your other posts and I see that you're actually a doctor, so I guess getting somebody to cover isn't an option.

Dr Nic

'Call' is where 4 of us run around the company and and do the work of 150+ colleagues from 5pm til 9am the next morning so that nothing major goes wrong, which it always does. Not related to our day job really

And yes, apparently you can be ordered to work during your block booked holidays. Or else you (yes you the employee) has to organise cover for your own holidays... Its vile, obscene and twisted. But does anyone know the actual legal standing?

Thanks again for your help

Bepolite

Dr Nic wrote: »

'Call' is where 4 of us run around the company and and do the work of 150+ colleagues from 5pm til 9am the next morning so that nothing major goes wrong, which it always does. Not related to our day job really

And yes, apparently you can be ordered to work during your block booked holidays. Or else you (yes you the employee) has to organise cover for your own holidays... Its vile, obscene and twisted. But does anyone know the actual legal standing?

Thanks again for your help

You're not going to get legal advice as the charter prohibits it. If you've booked holidays you can't be asked to come into work. You also have to adhere to the organisation of working time act. If you want legal advice contact a legal professional, FLAC, NERA or a union.

Dr Nic

Ordinarily we could get our own cover as we would only do 1 or 2 calls a week, but now they are proposing that every 6 weeks we work a week of nights with only 2 day off before going back to our day job (again illegal).
No-one will want to switch these brutal weeks, especially for the weeks that i have already gotten written confirmation of my holidays for...

Swapping one or two days is not a prob, but an entire weekof nights... no way

Bepolite

I'd personally tell them to go fly a kite. (politely and quietly). If you've been there over a year and you end up getting disciplined I normally find the line "I will be calling my solicitor as a witness during a disciplinary hearing to explain the law on working hours" works wonders. Just make sure you're in the right before you do this - ideally by speaking to a solicitor

tatli_lokma

OP, your employer is supposed to give you at least 4 weeks notice of leave requirements. They have done this by giving 6 weeks so they can cancel or change your leave. However, given that you have made arrangements based upon a previous agreement, you can insist that they compensate you for being out of pocket by changing the dates of your leave.

I would say best thing to do is give them two options - either let you go on holiday as planned, or reimburse you for your out of pocket expenses.

Also remember, you are supposed to get your statutory allowance per year, so cancelling your leave could cause a problem with that also, so they would need to may allowances for you in January to ensure that you can carry over the unused days without penalty (given that is is their fault).