NOT TURNING UP FOR WORK

[dafydd]

If I urgently need a day off but the DOM says I can't book it as a holiday day, can I just not turn up and ask not get paid for that day?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

If I urgently need a day off but the DOM says I can't book it as a holiday day, can I just not turn up and ask not get paid for that day?

No - that is Abandonment of duty and is a sack-able act. You can ask, but they don't have to grant Special Leave, but its not retrogressive. You have to ask before, not after.

[lala]

But if you ask for the day off and get a no, it makes it harder to be ill that day....

[A2B]

There must be an option somewhere in the RM rules to remedy this situation.

I had something that needed my attention and required me to stay off work, i notified my manager the day before and he said he couldn't give me a days holiday but strongly hinted i should go sick, i said i wasn't ill and wouldn't be taking that option. I then got a couple of people to witness me telling him i was unable to attend work the following day. Returned to work two days latter to be told i would be stopped a days pay (fair enough) and heard no more about it.

We are not robots and can not map out our lives months in advance

[TrueBlueTerrier]

IF you look at Special leave there are a few statutory reasons for special leave they can't refuse. Without the OP divulging what the nature of his day off request its diffcult to advise if its covered. However some are:


Domestic Distress
Death of Family member or dependant.
Parental Leave.

Most as you can see aren't pre-planned, others need agreement on when they can be taken.

[A2B]

How far is pre-planned? They want you to book all your leave months in advance and if you do save a few days for emergency's you have to fight tooth and nail to get them!

[TrueBlueTerrier]

How far is pre-planned?

anything before the day needed.

They want you to book all your leave months in advance and if you do save a few days for emergency's you have to fight tooth and nail to get them!

Depends on the reason for the request and nature of the emergency.

My dad had a stroke 4 weeks ago.. I got 1 days Special Leave and 2 days Annual straight off - no argument.

I also got special leave a few years ago when I had a fire at home.

However, if leave is tight I wouldn't expect to get a day if say a fridge was being delivered. Instead I would arrange for it to happen on my day off and ask the manager if he could arrange for me to have a specific day off and explain why.

As I say the nature of the request usually has a bearing on if you can get emergency leave, and if its a real emergency and the manager won't help then get a rep on the phone/in the office and they should sort it.

[A2B]

Leave is always tight, isn't it everywhere?

[Cedar_Room]

The Leave situation at our place is an utter & complete disgrace!

[DB1100]

The Leave situation at our place is an utter & complete disgrace!

And ours,almost impossible to get a single day off unless you are one of the gang.

[postslippete]

The way I see it you have 3 options:


1. Ask a manager/DOM support if you can get that day off. Get them to arrange to swap a day for you with someone else OR by taking one of your day's annual leave entitlement.

2. Go sick and DON'T tell anyone that you plan on going sick until you ring up on that day.

3. Ask anyone in the office if they have got that day off. And if they don't fancy swapping then why not offer them a cash incentive to work your day off?


In our office trying to arrange a day off through the 'official' channels is pointless because I know I would just get fobbed off; after all why should they organise our social life for us? And if we go sick, then expect about a dozen phone calls and a possible home visit from the DOM asking you when you are due back in work. This tends to happen if you feel ill or unwell.

The best option is the last one but I guess it comes down to how bad you want that particular day off....

[Surreypostie]

I do not condone anybody going sick unless they are genuinely ill. However, it has long been my belief that if RM were more helpful when it comes to short term leave, sick leave would drop considerably. You may only want one day off, you know you have no chance of getting it as they can't cover you, you go sick, nobody goes sick for one day, they end up having to cover you for longer. I don't know anybody who has done this and neither have I, I am convinced it must happen though. I've never worked for a firm where getting leave is so difficult. I used to work for a company where I could get leave the next day, the following week etc, none of this booking it up a year in advance nonsense.

[Dozen]

This is where it pays to have good workmates. Ask one of them if they mind swapping their rest-day with you, tell them you'll pay the favour back when they need a day off somewhere down the line. Tell the manager you've both agreed to swap rest-days to help each other out. The manager then still gets the work covered as usual without the hassle of having to even deal with the problem in the first place. Everybody's happy

I do this from time to time and have never had any problems.

[Dorset Plodder]

This is where it pays to have good workmates.

Agree mate but in a lot of DOs that's a big IF I've covered Saturdays in the past so that colleagues could go away....Guess What? When it came time to pay it back they were doing something. So be it I won't do it for them again.