Unpaid Holiday Leave

[AnderzPanderz]

Hi all,

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum.

I've been at Royal Mail for several months now, it's my first proper contracted job so I'm a little unsure on how some parts of the holiday system work.

As of the current year I've already taken 2 weeks of paid leave, and I'm due another two, one next month and one next year. However, I have made plans to go away for a few days at the start of September, as well as having booked a trip to travel across America for a few weeks later on in October.

Therefore I am curious if voluntary unpaid leave is possible? I already understand as this would be past the paid holiday amount I am entitled to (even if I changed it to those specific weeks) and I'm happy to accept that, but I'm wondering if this would conflict with my contract? Do I have to work every week of the year (excluding my holiday) or would it be counted as sickness or absence? Or is it just a case of giving a few weeks notice to take that time off?

I really enjoy my job so obviously I would love to be able to come back to it, but I fear that something like this could be detrimental and perhaps risk my job security. Sorry if it's a bit nonsensical so if there's any confusion just ask and I'll be happy to clarify.

Kind regards

[salomon2]

You can ask but I think you can only take unpaid leave if on a permanent contract not the temporary ones that you start on, but may be at your managers discretion. I know at our office we couldn't while still on trial.

[AnderzPanderz]

Thanks for the reply, how long are the temporary contracts? I've actually no idea if I'm on one or a permanent one.

[rehabron]

Hi all,

Apologies if this is in the wrong forum.

I've been at Royal Mail for several months now, it's my first proper contracted job so I'm a little unsure on how some parts of the holiday system work.

As of the current year I've already taken 2 weeks of paid leave, and I'm due another two, one next month and one next year. However, I have made plans to go away for a few days at the start of September, as well as having booked a trip to travel across America for a few weeks later on in October.

Therefore I am curious if voluntary unpaid leave is possible? I already understand as this would be past the paid holiday amount I am entitled to (even if I changed it to those specific weeks) and I'm happy to accept that, but I'm wondering if this would conflict with my contract? Do I have to work every week of the year (excluding my holiday) or would it be counted as sickness or absence? Or is it just a case of giving a few weeks notice to take that time off?

I really enjoy my job so obviously I would love to be able to come back to it, but I fear that something like this could be detrimental and perhaps risk my job security. Sorry if it's a bit nonsensical so if there's any confusion just ask and I'll be happy to clarify.

Kind regards

You should have received a copy of your Contract of Employment and this will clearly state the type of contract you are on. \you can request a copy of your contract from HR Sheffield. What you are asking for is additional leave over your statutory leave and you were silly booking a trip to America outside your annual leave dates before getting you first line manger's agreement that you can have this time off even if it is unpaid. I would suggest that you put your leave request in writing to your line manager giving your proposed dates. There may be the possibility that they can rearrange your outstanding leave into your proposed leave in September and October reducing the amount of days left that would be unpaid. You have basically left yourself at the discretion of your line manager and put the cart before the horse. Put your request in writing and ensure that you get a written reply. If the written reply is not in your favour then you are left with a predicament on how to cover your road trip across America. Would not recommend that you go absent on the dates of your American trip because you can forget about continually working for RM.