Ask Us – Annual Leave & School Holidays
As we approach the school summer holidays, I’m starting to receive lots of annual leave requests. I’ve got employees wanting to take time off at the same time and I can barely cover the business in August as it is. Am I allowed to say no to parents of school children?
In short, you are allowed to say no. Annual leave is an employee statutory right, and an employer must ensure employees are able to take at least 5.6 weeks (28 days for staff working 5 days per week) leave per year. However, a manager may also approve or deny holiday requests in line with the needs of the business, so if there is insufficient cover for a busy time of year then requests may be declined.
If you cannot grant a leave request for business reasons, the employee is entitled to carry over their leave to a time where it is convenient. If an employee simply does not book their leave, there is no such carry-over entitlement.
Employers should ensure they have a process of managing holiday requests so that it feels fair to all staff and does not put employees with protected characteristics at risk of direct or indirect discrimination. For busy trading or busy holiday times where not all staff can be granted their first choice of dates you could select employees for time off by taking turns over different years, drawing names out of a hat or dividing up the available days amongst those making requests.
Parents that are denied annual leave requests may request unpaid time off via a statutory parental leave request or alternate working arrangements via a statutory flexible working request. These requests are formal processes and should be fully considered in line with the needs of business. If it was unsuitable to grant annual leave, it may be unsuitable to approve these statutory requests too, but there are ramifications if a robust process is not adhered to. (see our advice on flexible working requests).
It can be difficult for parents to arrange sufficient cover during the school summer holidays. Employers can send a clear message that staff are valued by acting fairly and being accommodating to enable parents to strike the balance between their jobs and their parental responsibilities. Employers should always bear in mind that their trained and experienced employees that cannot achieve the flexibility they are seeking may find employment with a competitor that does offer flexibility. Being flexible and accommodating individual employee needs, in line with the needs of the business ultimately is a tool to attract and retain the best staff for your business.
