Just wondering, can your work basically decide when you take YOUR ANNUAL LEAVE?


I.e. I have asked for a week off next month and they have said no because a staff member will not be there.... which means we would be "short staffed"

Surely, that is not my problem, it is not my business... I can understand their point of view, but I want the week off for a wedding....

Seems like that are dictating when I am to have my holidays...

Thoughts?

Can I fight this?

It's generally a negotiation to a point, i.e. if you book it 6 months in advance they would struggle to raise a case why they can't plan around you not being there. In my experience the less notice you give the more you have to accept that you may be refused.

You can always do the old "I'm going to not be here this week and if you don't like it sack me."

Go lick some public transport stuff get a medical cert and call in sick

most unfortunately, yes they can.
it kinda sucks, because it is your leave.

In certain circumstances, an employer can direct an
employee to take annual leave. In order for an employer
to be able to do this, an award or agreement must include
terms that require an employee to take paid annual
leave, or allow the employee to be directed to take leave.
The requirement in the award or agreement must be
reasonable. Similarly, the NES allow an employer to require
an award or agreement-free employee to take a period
of annual leave, but only if the requirement is reasonable.
A requirement to take paid annual leave may be
reasonable if, for example:
• the employee has accrued an excessive amount
of paid annual leave
• the employer’s enterprise is being shut down for a
period (such as between Christmas and New Year).
In assessing reasonableness, the following factors
are relevant:
• the needs of the employee and the employer’s business
• any agreed arrangement with the employee
• custom and practice of the business
• timing of the direction or requirement to take leave
• reasonableness of the period of notice given.

http://www.fairwork.gov.au/factsheets/FWO-Fact-sheet-Annual-leave-and-the-NES.pdf

thanks for playing.

Toughen up and learn from the other guy and get your leave in early.

Sadly, correct. Springing a weeks leave on relatively short notice is a roll of the dice.

They need you and you didn't give enough notice for them to plan around your absence... Toughen up princess and plan your life more in advance so shit like this doesn't happen.

If you were wanting to push it a bit I would negotiate for less days off rather being a demanding prima-donna.

It isn't a month, he said a week next month, it is already nearing the end of this month so that isn't a whole lot of notice if someone else has put in to have time off next month but did so at the beginning of this month or the month preceding this month or perhaps even the start of the year or more if they are well prepared and organised

A month is not enough notice for an extended period of leave (i.e a week or more). Aim for a minimum 2-3 months notice for things like this and you should generally be ok. If you come in early it shows you are organised and they can't deny you or come up with an excuse.

I have worked in environments with a team of 15-20 workers. Usually only 2 people can have leave at one time so the business is covered. The rule is, first in, first served.

I asked like a month ago anyway..

Have over 100hrs and they said I had 2 weeks off in January so they are crying.

Faceman, next you will be saying the business only has to pay you your wage or salary when they feel like it - but it's kind of legally yours yo, just like holdays. Unnecessary denial is a surefire way to decrease morale, increase resentment and is detrimental to the interests of the business long-term - it's a two way street, both parties are helping each other out with their arrangement. Also, true mental. :)

Now you are just being a drama queen. ;)

*edit* I can be there sick as a dog, coughing, sneezing runny nose etc and they won't even let me go home sick!

matey you really need to tick up some self-improvement seminars and jot them down on your CV.

Hard to say - but the average Aussie employee needs to harden the fuck up... on paper.

Now that's REALLY productive - turning up to work in a run down state spewing infectious droplets of sick in the air for everyone else to breath, putting in a sub-par performance and potentially making it worse and drawn out rather than nipping it in the bud with rest. Again, detrimental to the establishment, counter-productive and more than likely well within your rights to take - this is a problem with some people in the position of handing out directives to employees - they haven't done the hard yards at ground level and mistakingly think they are somehow empowered to be the 'boss' of another. Buhboom. :)

As long as there wasn't a pattern to their sick days

Uber discounts at Dan Murphy's on a Thursday/Sunday. :p

*Edit - Still inept

All leave here has to be approved by your manager (and passed on by a Supervisor, with endorsement.) If you accumulate over 8 weeks, they start forcing you to take it. I gave notice for 2 weeks off in Nov during Feb.

There is other types of leave for situations like this. A wedding isn't one of those anyway. And some positions cant be filled in with a temp efficiently, or at all. We can replace a Chanie, but if we're in the middle of a big project, like a bridge build, losing a Surveypr makes it really hard.

Yeah, back in 2001ish I used to work for a high-rise and architectural street furniture and furnishing company fabricating molds and whatnot and there was one Vietnamese guy who had accrued 19 years worth of holidays and took them all in one hit, ($50,000k ish - 70 weeks off concurrently IIRC) - company of >200 employees before they put a stop to that kind of behaviour and clearly the company is at a loss here. I agree that there are and should be reasonable exceptions, 2 people on staff etc etc but when I have had to take leave that is relatively urgent (surgery etc) the companies (in my experience) usually prefer to let you use your own holiday time rather than whatever you are referring to (grievance etc).

I still think that 2 weeks is reasonable though and I've worked for upwards of 30 firms over 15ish years as a full-time worker (employee/wage recipient/salary) - sometimes as a union rep too, and I've found in my travels that employers sometimes use this topic as a bargaining/power tool/incentive tool unnecessarily. :)

*Edit - bordering on extremely inept this morning.

last edited by Jc_23 at 08:08:46 25/May/12

take it as a compliment, you clearly can't be replaced by some halfwit temp.

How come you didn't read the contract you signed?

I just got back from a months leave, gave 2 days notice. Work life balance is really pushed hard at most of the corporate companies I've been involved with, so it's never been a problem. I think doing it all the time though, would be stretching things :)

You can always do the old "I'm going to not be here this week and if you don't like it sack me."

Abandonment of work removes your entitlement for payout for your long service leave and annual leave.

So that'd be a really bad idea.

Modern awards

Some modern awards contain a provision regarding abandonment of employment. This usually regards an absence of more than three consecutive working days without the employer’s consent and no notification to the employer.

http://www.workplaceinfo.com.au/termination/abandonment-of-employment/

i used to love it in the old day when i could cash in my holidays for cash.

Sucks you lost that. I can cash out one or two weeks of leave but I need to have at least 4 weeks left afterwards and I am required to take at least one week of leave off at the same time.

I can also be directed to take annual leave when I have more than 12 weeks I think.

When you're on some kind of probation/penalty/investigation.

bingo, just grope someone and your off to the wedding in no time.

i have a term in the current EA I wrote which allows workers to cash in annual leave provided at all times they have 4 weeks minimum balance afterwards.

Haha, grope the boss. 50-50 whether it will get you a payrise or the sack (and a court case to boot).

If it is a male boss he may get the sack and fired as well.