Holiday Leave Problem

Q. Dear Jenny, I have just booked a holiday for the family. It was a last minute deal to go next week, I found it online and there were limited places so I booked it straight away so as not to loose the deal. I told my boss the next day that I had made the arrangements, but she told me I couldn’t have the time off because they are short staffed. I hadn’t requested the holiday before I made the booking. I have tried to get the money back on the holiday but I can’t and my boss is adamant I can’t go, what can I do?!

 

A. It is always risky booking a holiday before you have cleared it with work. You could check your holiday policy or contract to see if it states how much notice you need to give for a holiday or not to  book one before it has been authorised. But even if it doesn’t, if your employer is telling you that you can’t have the time off, and there is a genuine reason why you can’t, such as being short staffed then I’m afraid there is little you can do. If you don’t have the authority to take the time off, what this means is that you would be absent without leave from work and have failed to obey a reasonable instruction from your employer. You could be disciplined and might even be dismissed.

 

To try and resolve this, you should try to discuss it with your employer again, maybe come up with proposals for a solution to the company being short staffed, if possible, and put this to your employer. But ultimately, if it is reasonable for her to say you can not be absent from work, then you put your job at risk by simply taking the time off with out authority.