Holiday Request from work turned down :(

[mr gumby]

It's about time they recognised an addiction to glastonbury as a legitimate medical condition, so that refusing an employee with said affliction the opportunity to get his/her annual fix would be punishable by law. I'd suggest the appropriate punishment would be twofold: firstly, the offending employer would have to pay for the employees tickets for the next 5 years, regardless of whether they still worked for them. Second, they should be forced to go 24 hours in a locked room without sleep, while Jessie J is played to them non stop. 

[Untz]

2 minutes ago, mr gumby said:

It's about time they recognised an addiction to glastonbury as a legitimate medical condition

Would that mean you could take the time off as sick leave and keep your annual leave for another time? I like that idea.

[mr gumby]

Just now, Untz said:

Would that mean you could take the time off as sick leave and keep your annual leave for another time? I like that idea.

Works for me!  

[stuartbert two hats]

9 minutes ago, mr gumby said:

It's about time they recognised an addiction to glastonbury as a legitimate medical condition, so that refusing an employee with said affliction the opportunity to get his/her annual fix would be punishable by law. I'd suggest the appropriate punishment would be twofold: firstly, the offending employer would have to pay for the employees tickets for the next 5 years, regardless of whether they still worked for them. Second, they should be forced to go 24 hours in a locked room without sleep, while Jessie J is played to them non stop. 

Let's hope Bamber isn't your boss.

[parsonjack]

11 minutes ago, Mezhyp1 said:

You don't need to write I left cause I was fucking buzzing about going to a field in Somerset to roll about and take ket for 5 days, make sure it's plenty in advance and you have a line of reasons on why you may leave 

I'm talking about the Reference you ask your old Employer to provide for you....that will often ask why you left the job....and they could quite legitimately say that you left due to a disagreement over Annual Leave not being granted ie. threw your toys out of the cot.

A new Employer may not give a monkeys if you have the right skills etc....but in a toss up between you and someone else with equivalent skills I know who I'd pick.

[stuartbert two hats]

3 minutes ago, parsonjack said:

I'm talking about the Reference you ask your old Employer to provide for you....that will often ask why you left the job....and they could quite legitimately say that you left due to a disagreement over Annual Leave not being granted ie. threw your toys out of the cot.

A new Employer may not give a monkeys if you have the right skills etc....but in a toss up between you and someone else with equivalent skills I know who I'd pick.

Why would they think that? Ringing in sick over Glastonbury weekend is one thing, but quitting in Feb/March is quite another. 

[ghostdancer1]

head down after work Wednesday evening.

ring in sick Thursday and Friday.

have a dry day Sunday and head home after the main acts.

[Mezhyp1]

Just now, ghostdancer1 said:

head down after work Wednesday evening.

ring in sick Thursday and Friday.

have a dry day Sunday and head home after the main acts.

Or get absolutely mortally mangled and tell them that Glastonbury is life and they can stick their job up their shiter

[parsonjack]

9 minutes ago, Mezhyp1 said:

Or get absolutely mortally mangled and tell them that Glastonbury is life and they can stick their job up their shiter

...so they can give it to someone who isn't such a dick then.

[maelzoid]

How dreadful.

Don't quit. Don't take a sickie (they'll find out and then you'll be finished there).

In all seriousness though, start hunting around for something new. In 5 months you may easily find that next dream job and go to Glastonbury. Maybe this is just the motivation you need for that next step.

I know people say its not worth leaving a job over, but I take the other view. If an employer can't sort something out with 5 months notice then they are either inept or malicious, either way, that doesn't bode well for the future. I'm sure they could quite easily find a solution to cover for you for 5 days, so the fact they don't means they are putting their own laziness and/or procedure-following above the welfare of their employees. Missing Glastonbury isn't the point - it's what missing it represents.

 

[JoBalls]

3 hours ago, gooner1990 said:

Spoke to a senior manager today and they stuck by the decision not to allow me the time off, but said they may look at it closer to the time to give me perhaps one or two days off instead of the five I had asked for (weds, thurs, fri, mon and tues)  but 'couldn't promise anything.'

If I was you I'd go back to them again and say that "they may look at it close to the time" is not acceptable to you as the ticket is expensive, and request the Thursday and Friday off as a compromise. 

That way you could head down after work on the Wednesday and you'd get the whole of Thur, Fri, Sat and Sun at the fest (albeit Sun as a dry day, but that's better than nothing!)

If they still say no... I'll happily help you polish up your CV

[Mezhyp1]

7 minutes ago, parsonjack said:

...so they can give it to someone who isn't such a dick then.

You don't know what Glastonbury means to the person in crisis, Glastonbury means more to me than my job, there's plenty more jobs out there, there's only ONE Glastonbury 

 

[Amy Lawn]

35 minutes ago, parsonjack said:

I'm talking about the Reference you ask your old Employer to provide for you....that will often ask why you left the job....and they could quite legitimately say that you left due to a disagreement over Annual Leave not being granted ie. threw your toys out of the cot.

A new Employer may not give a monkeys if you have the right skills etc....but in a toss up between you and someone else with equivalent skills I know who I'd pick.

Well we're assuming OP has the basic level of tact to not go storming around the office and shouting that they're quitting because of it, more like be polite and civil until they've found something else and give their boss spiel about how it's been a great ride and you're grateful for the job they gave you but this new opportunity was really appealing and you'll really miss this place and oh god it just wont be the same without Elaine bringing the muffins in on a Friday we're all mad here aren't we? Hahaha! I'll think of you every time there's a printer jam like that time there was a printer jam here, lolololol! 

I digress, we just think OP is probably able to function socially as an adult.

[shoptildrop]

2 hours ago, Pinhead said:

Given the amount of notice you have provided, their refusal pushes the boundaries of what is reasonable in employment law. You are entitled to your annual leave and firms typically have to provide a tangible reason why refusal would damage the company's ability to operate without you. Is it worth taking it up with HR and working with them to demonstrate how your combined absence would not infrindge upon the organisations ability to operate effectively?

^^^^^this totally as they have to give you holidays, surely a Friday and Monday off could be the compromise that you suggest as it's only like 2 days?!!

[Mezhyp1]

1 hour ago, parsonjack said:

I'm talking about the Reference you ask your old Employer to provide for you....that will often ask why you left the job....and they could quite legitimately say that you left due to a disagreement over Annual Leave not being granted ie. threw your toys out of the cot.

A new Employer may not give a monkeys if you have the right skills etc....but in a toss up between you and someone else with equivalent skills I know who I'd pick.

Then you don't give your previous employer a reason to give you a bad reference, if they do it and say that you've left because of a disagreement over annual leave them they are out of order and you'll be able to take it further. Don't get me wrong, it's a last resort, but it's a resort that may have to be taken 

[gooner1990]

I work in a dept for a charity.  5 of us are team leader look after 25 staff (5 team members each) 

they have a stupid rule whereby no two team leaders are off at once and it's caused no end of arguments in the past.

problem is if they bend the rules for me it will be seen as unfair.

thst said like everyone else says the place won't collapse if two of us aren't there! And I'd only be gone for 3 days!

 

[maelzoid]

Just now, gooner1990 said:

I work in a dept for a charity.

Which charity is it? I'll never donate to them again!

[Chris Lfc]

It's 3 days I'm sure u can speak to someone and make some sort of agreement.. Give it more time and within the next few month they might forget so u can call in sick anyway

[russycarps]

8 minutes ago, gooner1990 said:

I work in a dept for a charity.  5 of us are team leader look after 25 staff (5 team members each) 

they have a stupid rule whereby no two team leaders are off at once and it's caused no end of arguments in the past.

problem is if they bend the rules for me it will be seen as unfair.

thst said like everyone else says the place won't collapse if two of us aren't there! And I'd only be gone for 3 days!

 

It's an understandable rule but this is extraordinary circumstances and a lot of money is at stake.

If you explain the situation calmly and compromise by only asking for Thurs, Fri and Mon then I would be staggered if they still said no. 

 

[sonicpurveyor]

Well depending on where you work compared to Glasto tell your boss you need the time off otherwise there'll be health and safety issues as you'll have to commute to work from Pilton for the 3 days.

 

[Stokesy10]

2 hours ago, parsonjack said:

I guarantee you that missing Glastonbury for a year won't hurt half as much as not being able to go to anything because you have no job and rent/a mortgage to pay and food to buy.

What if they don't get a ticket in 2017? And it's not on in 2018.

OP -

Depending on the job and if you think you're able to get a new one relatively easily (you've got a long long time between now and D-Day to look), bide your time in terms of grinding them down (professionally of course, as some have suggested, what can you put in place to ensure your absence won't affect the workplace too much etc.), if not, quit!

In the words of the great Kelly Jones "I don't live to work, I work to to live". 

Edited January 25, 2016 by Stokesy10

[Avalon_Fields]

Is there a way you can offer them something in return for 'breaking the rules'? Why not come up with an offer, propose something you can do above and beyond the call of duty, in exchange for the time off? There must be a compromise so they can be seen to have only bent their rules by gaining something themselves, so win:win 

[Keithy]

As a manager, I can sort of understand their point in that bending the rules for one will set a precedent and you can't do that. It's poor management to have a fixed rule like that though. I have a small team and similarly can't have too many people off but my rule that  the team agreed to was that if 1 is already off and a second person wants the same time off then (a) it's dependent on if their is already projects booked in and (b) the remaining staff are happy to pick up the slack. Fosters a good team ethic that people willing to give favours and stops anyone taking the mick, as if it happens once, their colleagues won't be interested in helping them next time.

Myself as an employee, I'm very lucky. It's long since established that the summer solstice is always my time off and is already in the calendar for the next 5 years. 

I wouldn't quit your job. If it's been an issue in the past with other staff, then speak to them and say that you appreciate they don't want to set a precedent but instead rather than make an exception, can they review the 2 off rule for everyone and see what everyone else feels. But don't quit; start looking for something else, make it clear to them that you are disappointed in the decision.

[Curlygirl]

Keithy makes a good point. I can never get annual leave for glastonbury, or the recovery period, but as I work shifts, I work a lot of shifts leading up to Glastonbury for other people... And they pick up my shifts when away. Is this something that could be done Gooner? 

I would be absolutely devastated if I couldn't get time off so I totally feel your pain. I hope you get something sorted. Good luck 

[gooner1990]

This rule was put in place when we had less staff so I think it's a bit outdated anyway.  And now we have more staff more holiday requests come in and get bounced back!

im going to offer a compramise in my next one to one if they stick to their decision, then I may speak to HR as I don't think this rule is in any handbooks/down in writing, I think people just accept it for what it is.