Comments needed: Should I have to find someone my own holiday cover 3

[SpanishWaiter01]

Hello All:

Comments needed: Should I have to find a colleague to act as my holiday cover?

I work in the UK for an IT company.

In my contract, it does not state in my contract of employment that I must find holiday cover for my job when I am away. The management approved my holiday.

The period of holiday is one day; 11am - 19:30; I gave them a weeks notice.

The management are placing pressure on me to do this. I don't think it's right.I am in a Union.

Does UK/EU Law offer me any protection?

Constructive comments welcomed.

Cheers
SpanishWaiter

 

[mrdenny]

Your best bet would to be check with a local lawyer. Your local MPs office may be able to provide you with some assisance as well.

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[sleipnir214]

I must be missing a great deal of subtext or some piece of information that is obvious to everyone else. So I'll ask the dumb question: Union or no, contract or no, what's the big deal about asking someone to cover for you while you're out?



Want to ask the best questions? Read Eric S. Raymond's essay "How To Ask Questions The Smart Way". TANSTAAFL!

 

[Thargy]

I agree with Sleipnir, but if management have a problem with you taking leave at that time, why was it approved in the fist place? Leave is just that, permission to leave!

If there's no cover, then that's a resourcing issue for your superiors, not you (unless you do the hiring and the firing).

Regards

T

 

[edfair]

And are they wanting you to pay for the coverage, too?

Are they going to pay you for your time while you are searching for coverage? If so, I would see no issue since that would be considered part of a job, for which you would be getting paid.

Some of this is depending on what kind of contract you have.

I can see some of management's dilemma. If you have specialized knowledge it would be difficult for them to choose the right person, while you might have no problem at all.

Having been in a situation where management sent in unqualified people to service equipment this is a real concern. It ended up so bad for one customer that they eventually placed the service calls as machines broke but specified no service until I returned from vacation.


Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[lionelhill]

My take on it: You are entitled to holiday. It's perfectly reasonable for management to ask you to suggest who, in a team, is most suited to cover for you. If no one is able to do it, you should be able to give that as your answer. If you have any team-leadership role, it's also OK for management to expect you to run the team in such a way that any individual can be away and the whole team still functions, provided that you are given enough staff and facilities to achieve this (i.e. you're not struggling at 110% capacity, and you've got some time for staff training). It's also OK for management to ask you to look for external contractors able to cover for you when you are away (after all, you know best what the job involves), but you have an absolute right to do this in your paid working hours: it should not be expected of you that you do this as an unpaid extra task merely because you had the audacity to have time off!

Hey, be happy you're so important that cover matters for a single day off. Many of us could vanish in a puff of smoke and it would be several months before anyone noticed.

 

[kmcferrin]

Interesting question. In the US the Union contract would likely have something to say about this, and if it didn't then the Union itself certainly would. Are you part of management? Is scheduling people for work part of your normal, contracted job responsibility? If your answers are no, then I'd expect that scheduling your holiday replacement isn't your responsibility either.

Now if it's just a matter of asking around to see if someone else on the team can cover for you, it can't hurt to ask. Then if nobody steps up you can escalate to management. In most companies I have worked for people are willing to help each other out like that, with the expectation that the favor will be repaid at a later date.

Of course it also depends on the type of work being done too. In most cases if you are a salaried employee then it's not really your responsibility to find someone to cover for you, because there is the understanding that even though you're off one day there are probably other weeks where you're working extra hours.

If you are an hourly worker then I think that the expectation is different. In most hourly cases you are responsible for working your assigned shift, and if you are unable to work you are expected to find someone to cover for you/trade shifts with you, or else it counts against you. Of course that only applies if you ask for the day off after the schedule has been made. If you give the person who makes the schedule enough notice that they don't schedule you for that day then there's no issue.

Sorry I couldn't give you better answers. Whichever route you go, I don't think it's much of a burden to ask around on your team to see if someone can cover for you. Just keep in mind that even if you are within your rights that by making a stink over things you could be alienating management a bit, too. It shouldn't count against you long term, but we all know that managers tend dislike people who push back on them.

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[rosieb]

This is daft! You asked for holiday, it was approved - it is your manager's job to ensure cover.

However, I suspect that your employer is trying to take advantage of you - talk to your union rep. Failing that, talk to your Citizan's Advice Bureau - they're very helpful.


Rosie
"It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong." Richard Feynman

 

[lionelhill]

(Rosie, I wish more people would listen to your Feynman quote)

 

[ChrisHunt]

If you're a permanent employee of the company, then your contract (presumably) entitles you to a certain number of days' leave each year. It's down to your manager to determine how to cover for your absence, though they may reasonably seek your advice in doing so.

If (like me) you're a contractor working through your own limited company, your contract with the client doesn't usually include any holidays. Technically your holding company is responsible for finding and funding a replacement while you're away - though in practice clients are usually OK with allowing you to go on unpaid leave if it doesn't cause them too many problems. There's no benefit to them of taking on a new, replacement "employee" for a few days leave cover.

What do your colleagues do when they go on leave? What do your managers do?


-- Chris Hunt
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[rosieb]

(Lionel, I'm a huge fan of Feynman and this quote just struck me as perfect! Thanks!)

Rosie
"It doesn't matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn't matter how smart you are. If it doesn't agree with experiment, it's wrong." Richard Feynman