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My friend is working part time. A couple of months ago he booked and paid for a long weekend off and wrote it in the book they Have to use for annual leave. At this time he told his manager. He is due for this weekend off next Friday 6th July. His manager is now reluctant for him to Have this time off. Two other members of staff now want the same time off. The present rules of his employment concerning holidays is: No two care staff off at the same time One domestic staff off at one timeThe other two who are having time off at the same time are inlaws and care staff. They Have children of school age and are taking them to Romainia to see family. They also Have paid for their holiday and Romainian them selves. They did know when my friend was having his time off. The manager has indicated that my friend should forgo his holiday in favour of the other two. The money he has paid out is non-refundable. It appears that the manager gives high priority to his foreign employies as this has happened before with other English employies. My friend works 20 hrs a week. The manager says he can refuse the holiday even if he has known for ages and it has been paid for and is just tough luck if holiday payment is non-refundable! I would be greatful for any comments on this matter and where my friend stands in this matter law wise.My friend works in a care home in the Uk.
Optional Information: State/Country relating to question: United Kingdom
Hello and thank you for your question, which I will be happy to assist you with. Please let me know if there is a specific policy in place in relation to booking holidays?
was the holiday authorised?
so what is actually authorised in the way that holidays normally get authorised there?
When an employee books annual leave they would usually be expected to follow the employer's own internal policy in order to ensure that the booking has been confirmed. Unless the policy has been followed and/or request formally approved, it will not necessarily have been registered as a formal request and may still be subject to refusal.
So the key here is to establish whether your friend has followed what was required of them and if there is evidence that the request was approved as per usual. If that is the case then they can argue that the holiday cannot now be cancelled as it was approved and that they have relied on that to go and make the necessary holiday arrangements.
If this was not the case, the employer has the legal right to reject a request as long as they give the employee notice equal to the length of the holiday to be taken. So if the holiday is for 3 days they must reject it at least 3 days before it is due to be taken.
If they believe that they have been treated unfairly in this situation and the employer is insisting that they do not take their holiday then they can consider raising a grievance first. The last resort is to resign and claim constructive dismissal but as you can imagine that is a big step and a risky one too.
that is a possibility - a person should not be treated unfavourably because of race, religion, nationality, etc. So if there is clear favouritism towards certain nationalities, then that is indeed potential discrimination
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Experience: Expert in UK Employment Law
Hello, Following our recent conversation, this is just a quick follow up to see how you are getting on and to check if my advice has been helpful in dealing with your query? I look forward to hearing from you.Regards, Ben