Employer With So Many Holiday Rules .

[Jenarry]

I have a helpline I want to call about this matter but I don’t think I can contact them until next week so after some advice /views .
Our holiday entitlement runs from April Til March . I work 4 days a week and I have a week and one day holiday left to take before April .
A friend who has recovered from cancer has always talked about us going to an 80’s weekend so I want to book a Friday and Monday off for a long weekend at the end of January . Which will leave me with 3 days which I would like to take during Feb half term week to have some time with my son . All pretty straightforward . We have a rule where only 2 people can be off at any time so I checked before I asked especially the school holiday week . And there is no-one else off on jan days and 1 person off on feb days . I’ve had to wait two weeks to ask as my boss has been off then I heard today thru supervisor that as my boss likes us to take hols off in blocks of a week she wants me to take the whole week off in the January week leading up to the long weekend and then the Monday ,using up all my last holidays and none of the half term days . We get the minimum holiday entitlement of 4 weeks a year so we have to use them wisely .but in essence rather than getting a few days with my son i’m Supposed to be off a mon-thurs when my son is at school and my husband is at work just so that I can have that Friday off . :/ I can understand the blocks of one week during peak holiday months but during jan - feb our quietest time of the year when no-ones off it seems preposterous .
Other holiday rules -no time off in December . Weeks from mon to fri only. This issue has been a problem before for others but no-one seems to want to speak up at work . :/ should our boss really be dictating when we use our holiday entitlement to this degree and making it that difficult for us to have the days off when we want them ?

[tonyav]

I'd give ACAS a ring about this, jenarry.
https://www.bing.com/search?q=acas+employee+advice&qs=AS&pq=acas&sk=AS1&sc=8-4&;cvid=7B30D3046FED45F98A7E7BE3F78FDA9A&;FORM=QBRE&;sp=2

[Buenchico]

As long as your employer gives you 22.4 days paid holiday per year the law is being complied with.

If he wants, say, to give you just a couple of single days off in a month (with both of those days being in the 'middle' of your working weeks) and then insist that you work on Christmas Day (if that's a day of the week which you'd normally work) at your normal pay rate, then it's all perfectly legal.

i.e. no employee ever has any entitlement to receiving their holiday periods in whole weeks (unless, of course, they've got a contract which makes such a provision). Equally, they've never got any entitlement to take single days off if the employer wants to insist on a 'full weeks only' rule wherever it's practical to apply it.

No holidays in December is a common rule in many workplaces. (The rail company I worked for applied the same rule). There are also still some companies which work to the old idea of 'wakes weeks', where everybody in the company has to take their holidays at the same time (as determined by the employer) simply because the business shuts down during those periods. There are also other jobs where the exact dates of employees holidays are fixed by the employer, with zero flexibility, with teaching being a prime example. (Teachers might get plenty of holidays but they're stuck with paying peak prices if they want to go away anywhere).

So, legally, you've not got a leg to stand on. All you can do is to hope that your employer can be persuaded to show some flexibility, either by you or by your union representative (if relevant).

[Jenarry]

sigh . That doesn’t sound very hopeful . My son is registered disabled so I believe if I give 6 weeks notice I can apply for time off for his care and my employer has to give a very very good reason if they say no. I may go down this route if needs be . :/