Holiday Requests
“I own a small business which several members of staff have asked for the same weekend off so that they can attend a festival. However, this would mean that I would not have enough employees in the store. Am I entitled to refuse my employees’ holiday requests?”
Answer:
Many Employers may feel obliged to accept all employees holiday request
to keep a good relationship between them. However, this is not always
possible if many workers want the
same time period off.
The law requires employees to submit a holiday request with at least twice the amount of leave requested unless contractually different. If the employer submits a counter-notice declining said holiday then it must be within as many days as required by law, being as much notice as the amount of leave required, then they can refuse the holiday request.
The employer is under a duty to ensure that an employee has an effective opportunity to take annual leave, and it is the employee’s responsibility to submit every time a holiday request is denied within a three-month period.
Therefore, as an employer you can deny holiday. However, do bear in mind the implications this may have on an employee’s morale within the workplace. One suggestion may be, to plan and pre-warn employees that it will be a first come first served basis for the big events in the local area, making the more organised the winners!
