Dad recently got offered a new job part-time but she has a holiday booked...

roro1990

Hi,

My dad has been out of work for a few years due to nursing his own dad through ill health. Recently he got a job offer after applying to work in a supermarket. He has until November 10th to accept or reject it. It is a sales assistant role with flexible hours and minimum 15 hours per week.

The potential problem with taking this job is that before he even applied for the role, we had booked a holiday abroad on December 16th for 10 days. Flights and accom are both paid and non-refundable as far as I can tell.

What would be the best way to approach this given my dad wants to accept the job offer? I am concerned for him in terms of how it would look on the first day to show up and say, "erm, yeah, I have a holiday booked for 10 days of what is traditionally the most hectic period in retail".

Furthermore, his pro-rata holiday entitlement is 21 days, so given his hours, I'm not even sure if he'd be allowed take 10 days off in a 12-month period. I have no experience of this type of situation either but I wanted to ask for some advice.

The contract is probationary so is there a good chance they'll just let him go from the job if he reveals he won't be around for 10 days just a month into his new role? I'm really unsure how much understanding a large supermarket would show in this situation. Thanks for any advice.

Pelvis

Tell them now and see what they say. They'll either say it's fine or it's not.

Commanchie

roro1990 wrote: »

Hi,

My dad has been out of work for a few years due to nursing his own dad through ill health. Recently he got a job offer after applying to work in a supermarket. He has until November 10th to accept or reject it. It is a sales assistant role with flexible hours and minimum 15 hours per week.

The potential problem with taking this job is that before he even applied for the role, we had booked a holiday abroad on December 16th for 10 days. Flights and accom are both paid and non-refundable as far as I can tell.

What would be the best way to approach this given my dad wants to accept the job offer? I am concerned for him in terms of how it would look on the first day to show up and say, "erm, yeah, I have a holiday booked for 10 days of what is traditionally the most hectic period in retail".

Furthermore, his pro-rata holiday entitlement is 21 days, so given his hours, I'm not even sure if he'd be allowed take 10 days off in a 12-month period. I have no experience of this type of situation either but I wanted to ask for some advice.

The contract is probationary so is there a good chance they'll just let him go from the job if he reveals he won't be around for 10 days just a month into his new role? I'm really unsure how much understanding a large supermarket would show in this situation. Thanks for any advice.

If it was any other time february to August id say go ahead tell him to tell them. But id say his employment will rest on if hes going on holidays or not.

Not a nice position to be in. If hes been out of work and I was him. Id be forgetting the holiday and resuming employment. You all go and allow him settle into the job. Not ideal but way forward.

Tiddlypeeps

If going on the holiday is non-negotiable then his only two options are to tell them before accepting the job offer that he will be unavailable those days or say nothing until he starts the job and then try convince them to let him go.

Telling them before hand will likely result in him not getting the job, but is unlikely to leave any bad blood with the supermarket, meaning he may have the opportunity to apply again if roles open up in the future.

If he tells them after he starts then it is unlikely they will be happy about it. They are likely hiring now to cover the Christmas rush so they are not likely to approve the time off and if he just takes it off anyway it will almost certainly result in termination of his employment and will leave bad blood behind where he won't be welcome to apply again (depending on the chain in question and how they are managed it may result in him not being welcome to apply in any other location associated with the chain).

If he is willing to forgo the holiday for the sake of the job then he should just accept and then chance his arm asking for the time off when he starts. It's unlikely the time off will be approved but there is no harm in trying. Asking afterward in this scenario is better than asking before he starts because they might withdraw the job offer out of fear he will take the time off anyway when it comes around.

splinter65

He has to accept or reject before Nov 10th but what is the start date?
The other things to establish with you are this:
In Irish law you are entitled to holidays but the employer has control over when the holidays can be taken.
Holidays are “accrued”. So if he starts on Nov 12 and wants to go on holidays on December 16 he would have accrued 5 hours paid holiday.
I’m guessing that there will be a probationary period after he starts.
I’m assuming that if he puts in a 2 week holiday request form 2 weeks after starting during the busiest period of the year then they will just get someone else, that’s what I’d do if I was running the supermarket.
Personally I would accept but stipulate that I’m not available to start until 31 December.

cute geoge

Do not attempt to tell them ,get a cert for the 10 days!!!

splinter65

cute geoge wrote: »

Do not attempt to tell them ,get a cert for the 10 days!!!

What good is that going to do?

SusieBlue

He will be on probation, if he gets a cert for 10 days during the heaviest trade period of the year when he's only just been hired I imagine they'll let him go.
Its also a scummy thing to do because he'll be leaving other staff members in the lurch, possibly causing someone to be called in on their days off when they could be spending time with family/friends.

OP, I see your predicament but this sounds he has been offered a seasonal position. December 16th-26th will arguably be the busiest period of the whole of Christmas, including Christmas Eve, which NO ONE wants to work.
Your dad is unavailable to work on those days.

I used to work in retail/hospitality and even as a permanent staff member, taking annual leave during the festive period was forbidden. It would have been completely unheard of for a Christmas hire to even manage a day or two off, let alone 10.

I think he's best off being honest, but I imagine they won't be able to accommodate his holiday. No harm in asking but I don't think the supermarket would be being unreasonable if they withdrew their offer.

GalwayGrrrrrl

Usually if you are applying for a job they will honour any holiday you booked if you mention it at interview. However seeing as this is seasonal work and your dad wants leave over the busiest 10 days of the year there is no way they will agree to it (at interview or now).

roro1990

GalwayGrrrrrl wrote: »

Usually if you are applying for a job they will honour any holiday you booked if you mention it at interview. However seeing as this is seasonal work and your dad wants leave over the busiest 10 days of the year there is no way they will agree to it (at interview or now).

It's not a seasonal job; there is a new store opening in north dublin and my dad was offered a job there because the new branch needs staff. There is not even any indication from the contract offer about when the store will open. All the contract states is that the job commences on November 10th at 9:00 a.m. but the store is not even open yet. My dad wasn't told during the interview stage exactly when the store will open either.

runawaybishop

cute geoge wrote: »

Do not attempt to tell them ,get a cert for the 10 days!!!

People really need to learn that sick certs aren't magic and can't stop you getting let go.

Diziet

I would call them and say - thanks for the offer, I would love to work for you. I have one question: I had already booked holiday, etc, shall I cancel it? I don't want to cause difficulties in a busy period, but I thought I would check. I want to accept the job. Then see what they say, it's no harm.
That is, if he is willing to cancel the holiday. If not, then leave out the 'shall I cancel it' bit, and be prepared for them to possibly say no.

bobbysands81

Diziet wrote: »

I would call them and say - thanks for the offer, I would love to work for you. I have one question: I had already booked holiday, etc, shall I cancel it? I don't want to cause difficulties in a busy period, but I thought I would check. I want to accept the job. Then see what they say, it's no harm.
That is, if he is willing to cancel the holiday. If not, then leave out the 'shall I cancel it' bit, and be prepared for them to possibly say no.

This is really the only option he should be considering.

Mrs OBumble

Find someone else to go on holiday with.

Your Dad's busy working then and cannot go.

roro1990

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Find someone else to go on holiday with.

Your Dad's busy working then and cannot go.

What an utterly bizarre comment. It's almost like you want there to be an agenda behind what was a really quite transparent question. Do people on this site actively look for arguments or what? My desire to go on holiday or not has nothing to do with what I posted.

Commanchie

roro1990 wrote: »

What an utterly bizarre comment. It's almost like you want there to be an agenda behind what was a really quite transparent question. Do people on this site actively look for arguments or what? My desire to go on holiday or not has nothing to do with what I posted.

People search this forum for arguements. Let it go over the head

Dalomanakora

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Find someone else to go on holiday with.

Your Dad's busy working then and cannot go.

Er, don't do this immediately.

Ask the company. I joined a company a few years back during heavy trade season, with a holiday booked. I was upfront and told them I had a non-refundable holiday booked. So I was given the time off and even given some holiday pay in advance! On the opposite side, a sibling had to cancel a holiday because a new job wouldn't grant the time off, but hey, they're working full time now!

There's no harm in asking. If they say no, he can decide what to do about the holiday after.

Mrs OBumble

roro1990 wrote: »

What an utterly bizarre comment. It's almost like you want there to be an agenda behind what was a really quite transparent question. Do people on this site actively look for arguments or what? My desire to go on holiday or not has nothing to do with what I posted.

You asked

What would be the best way to approach this given my dad wants to accept the job offer?

And I gave my advice on what is the best approach. Sorry you don't like it - but that's what my opinion is. If you don't want diverse answers, then you'd be best not posting here.

If you are old enough to be posting here, then father is old enough to be facing age-discrimination in the labour market, especially since he's not been in the paid workforce for some years. Despite that, he's been offered a job which he wants to take. What's more, it's a job in an opening-in-the-future location, so they've likely go training planned in another store, in an industry which simply does not offer extended time-off during the Christmas season.

From this, it's blatantly clear that your father is NOT available to go on holiday at the time you had planned. This is unfortunately, but NOT the end of the world.

Be happy for your father having secured a job that he wants. Or be a bitch about how your holiday is ruined. Or make alternative plans. Your dime.

roro1990

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

You asked

And I gave my advice on what is the best approach. Sorry you don't like it - but that's what my opinion is. If you don't want diverse answers, then you'd be best not posting here.

Be happy for your father having secured a job that he wants. Or be a bitch about how your holiday is ruined. Or make alternative plans. Your dime.

Some rant that was. I asked a question about my Dad and how he should handle a situation like this. What I didn't ask for was a randomer who knows diddly squat about me to project and tell me to find someone else to go abroad with. As was already quite clearly outlined to you, my desire to go abroad has nothing to do with the thread. (If it makes any difference to your weird agenda, the holiday is more for my dad than myself. I've already travelled this year quite extensively and I'm comfortable staying home or going away for christmas).

Also, just lol at the last paragraph. Triggered much. You shouldn't comment on Internet threads if you get so needlessly riled up and feel the need to comment on unrelated matters. Calling people a bitch doesn't make you hard either; it just makes you come across as an angry keyboard warrior.

beertons

Tell them he has a holiday booked, before he accepts. Then see what they say.

roro1990

beertons wrote: »

Tell them he has a holiday booked, before he accepts. Then see what they say.

Yeah, I think that's gonna be the most sensible route. Cheers.

Rubberchikken

Id say let him be honest with them.
Tell them he has a holiday booked. He wants the position and put the decision in their hands - they either say fine go. Or they say no and the job is given to someone else. If he really wants the job which sounds possibly permanent then he has to make the decision and the sooner he makes it the better.

Good luck

roro1990

Rubberchikken wrote: »

Id say let him be honest with them.
Tell them he has a holiday booked. He wants the position and put the decision in their hands - they either say fine go. Or they say no and the job is given to someone else. If he really wants the job which sounds possibly permanent then he has to make the decision and the sooner he makes it the better.

Good luck

Nice one, thanks, that seems to be the best advice. Cheers to everyone who has commented without an agenda.

Graniteville

Some utterly ridiculous replies here and you'd wonder how some of those posters have jobs.

As an employer myself where Christmas is our key season, this would be an unusual request.

However, the good news is that many students are finishing college at that time and will be begging for hours.

I'd inform them immediately and offer to do extra shifts beforehand and work new years eve & new years day (if back)


It will be unpaid leave, so don't even suggest paid holidays.

If he does not inform them or tries any tricks, the job will be gone when he gets back.

When it comes to work, honesty is ALWAYS the best policy.

Mango Joe

OP there was, in my opinion, some incredibly ignorant and rude commentary on this thread from someone who seemingly prides themselves on being the hard-nosed and ultra-pragmatic evangelist of boards.ie.

Fair play to your Da for getting through a tough time and taking care of his Da - He sounds like a decent fella who deserves a nice holiday AND to get a job that suits him.

Best of luck to you both & don't mind the trolls with petty agendas.

dragonfly!

How did your Dad get on?