my boyfriend currently works in security and has been doing so for about a year now, in that time hes had no sick days and ONE day off holiday (which he wasn't paid for!). 2 weeks ago he put in a request for a week off in late august which today was declined due to there not being enough time to find cover. He was also told that he wouldn't be able to take any time off until late October. is this right? come September he will have worked for the company for a year, what can we do because as far as i can see they're with holding his holiday.
Assuming we're talking UK employment law, there is an entitlement to paid holiday, and this has been in force for a few years. This page (from citizens advice) has more. I'm not sure, though, that there's a legal right to take leave exactly when you want. On the buses, for example, they need X number of bus drivers on any one day, so annual holidays tend to be allocated on a rota (usually with the flexibility to swap if you can find someone who wants to swap) rather than letting everyone take the same week/s off, and people who work in schools / colleges are often required to take most / all of their holiday outside term time. With the demands on the security business during the Olympics etc, I can understand them not wanting people having time off in the next month or so...
We live in a small town in Northamptonshire and the whole Olympics thing seems to have bypassed us lol. He doesn't have a holiday rota just to book as and when he wants it (apparently!) when I looked at the citizens advice there wasnt much there to help. It's getting to the point that he doesn't want to work for the company as this continually happens because no one else will work where his placement is because it's a rougher area.
Probably why they won't give him the time off as no one will cover for him. Can't help you but Cesare is good at employment related shenanigans.
How would we go about tackling this then? Obviously it's not on and he's unsure of we're to start as all the departments keep fobbing him off
tbh he should not have left it so late to request holiday (nearly a year into the job), by sept he will have been there 12 months and not taken a days holiday and it seems they are saying he can not take any till late October 13 months in?, I am not sure from the op if he has requested any before and been refused, if he has that is another matter and perhaps time to negotiate strongly for the holiday and if that fails start a grievance with the employer ( belonging to a union could help at this point) . His contract should state the notice required when requesting holiday, has he stuck to this? have they broken this? He is entitled to paid holiday as per his contract of employment, and the laws covering this. He needs to sort this out asap so he gets the time off he needs and is entitled to.
He's tried booking off many times and always gets the same answer, they even changed how to book without telling him! He is supposed to give 4 weeks notice for any holiday requests.
I get the whole some people have kids and it's the school holidays and what have you but as its not the first time this has happened its kind of come to a head now
They will arbitrate and represent you, I think. I'd be tempted to go there. Or both. You can call ACAS up (never done it myself).
If your boyfriend is employed by, rather than contracting for these people he is entitled to 5.6 weeks holiday each year, to include bankholidays. The company can govern when he takes it, but by law they have to allow him to take all of it at some point.
He's definitely employed by them as a company. He doesn't get bank holidays off either he just works half his regular shifts for them
By law he's entitked to a day FOR but not necessarily on the bank holiday. If he's been there a year, take one day off unpaid and half days for bank holidays they will owe him around 25 days holiday (extra BH this year) Figure it out exactly and write them a letter stating how much annual leave he's owed and requesting confirmation of when he can take it. Have a look at his contract as well, it will tell you if his AL runs on a calendar year or his employment year. Worst case he might have lost all AL up to Christmas by not taking it already.
What does his contract say? This should all be covered in his contract, dig it out and have a read would be the first place to start.
There is a legal requirement on employers to ensure that employees take the statutory minimum amount of holidays every year, regardless of his contract.
A phone call to ACAS certainly isn't going to do any harm. At the "ring up and talk to someone" stage (which is as far as I ever went with them) it's anonymous - they didn't ask my name or who my employer was. The suggestion (already made) about joining a union is perhaps worth further thought as well - a union will provide access to advice up to and including taking an employer to a tribunal if it comes to that. (although most unions will be a bit reluctant to take up a problem that's already arisen before someone joins) Despite what a lot of people think (and most employers are quite happy for people to think this) - you don't have to work somewhere a union is officially 'recognised' to join a union. (also, if this is a sticking point, you can opt out of the political fund so don't have to contribute to / participate in labour party matters if you don't want to) GMB seem to organise in the security sector (not a personal recommendation - I've never been a GMB member) - alternatively, the TUC Union-finder website may be worth a look
