Holiday request denied as my employer would like to go away at the same time even though he has nothing booked, is he within his right?

Question

I booked a 3 week once in a lifetime trip to Thailand at the start of June for next Easter as the prices were great. I applied fo rthe holiday at work and was told i couldnt take it off as it is the school holidays and my boss would like to take it off also. Subsequently to this an email was circulated stating - "As per all employment contracts - All leave must be authorised by me once I have checked who is away. Pecking order will be down to length of service. At least 2 weeks notice should be given for all requests, any urgent requests will be dealt with on a case by case basis". My contract states - "A holiday request form must be completed and approved by your Manager at least two weeks
before any holiday may be taken. Key personnel cannot be off at the same time" This seems a little unreasonable to me and as my contract does not state any limitations on dates i would like to know where i stand. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I never heard of anyone booking a holiday without first having gotten approval for the vacation time. You get approval THEN you make holiday arrangements. Hope you can get your money back. An employer determines when or if vacation time is granted.

Answer 2

"This seems a little unreasonable to me and as my contract does not state any limitations on dates..."



Yes it does by the language "Key personnel cannot be off at the same time".



As you boss stated, he is already planning to be off that same week. As he owns the business, he is the top of the pecking order. As it states in your contract that key personnel cannot be off at the same time, your boss is right in denying your request.



This should be a lesson that you should always ensure you have approved time off prior to booking a holiday trip. All you can do is try to reschedule that trip to a time approved by your employer.

Answer 3

Yes he is right. You should have applied for the leave prior to booking your holiday. The employer always has the final say. He has nothing booked is irrelevant. You shouldn't have booked either until your leave was approved.

Answer 4

Your contract reads:



"A holiday request form must be completed and APPROVED by your Manager..."



Your contract does not state any limitations on dates but requires "approval" from the manager (the approval can be granted or denied.)



Maybe you are misinterpreting the contract as meaning that "approval" is warrantied, but that doesn't seems to be the case.



Could you argue that the contract's wording is ambiguous? Maybe, but there is no warranty of getting a ruling in your favor.

Answer 5

You should never have booked it without permission to take the time off. This is standard practice in all businesses.

He owns the business, he can do as he likes. You have no rights except to rebook or leave your job.

Answer 6

100% legal. You should have asked for the time prior to booking the trip.

Answer 7

Try to rebook the holiday

Answer 8

seems like you booked the vacation before time off was approved...