If you work as part of a team, you can often feel like you’re competing with your colleagues to get the time off you need before it gets booked by someone else, particularly around the summer months and Christmas break. Whether you’re new to a role or hoping to make a good impression by holding off from booking long periods of time off, you may be unsure of the process for booking holiday at your place of work.How to let your employer know that you would like to book a holiday.In this blog post, you will find info graphic showing you book a holiday.
Provided that your employer complies with the minimum statutory holiday requirements, the rules on how to request holiday can vary from company to company. These rules are usually included in the staff handbook or your employee contract. Staff usually need to obtain prior approval from their manager for any holiday requests, although, of course, no request is guaranteed. If your employer refuses to grant your request, they usually need to inform you at least as many days in advance of the start date for your requested leave – for example, if you’ve asked to take a two-week holiday, they need to inform you the holiday has been refused at least two weeks beforehand.
Typically, staff need to give twice as much notice to their employer as they want to take in holiday – so, if you want to take one day of annual leave, you need to provide a minimum of two days’ notice. It’s also worth having a record of your requests as well, either through an email or through an online system, such as this HR software which enables you to book your holiday and have it approved or denied by a senior member of staff – by keeping a record, if there’s a dispute over your annual leave further down the line, you’ll have evidence of it being approved. It also means you can keep a better track of your remaining allowance as the year progresses.
It’s also possible that your employer will require you to take your leave on particular days, such as over Christmas or on upcoming holidays when the office is closed (these are often included as part of your holiday entitlement). Your employer should know what holidays are federal and which ones do not have mandatory time off. Your employer may also request that staff don’t take leave at certain times of the year, such as during the school term. This will vary between industries though and depends on when the company operates, so check in advance of booking any time off what the rules are within your department.
It’s also possible that your employer will require you to take your leave on particular days, such as over Christmas or on Bank Holidays when the office is closed (these are included as part of your holiday entitlement), and request that staff don’t take leave at certain times of the year, such as during the school term. This will vary between industries though and depends on when the company operates, so check in advance of booking any time off what the rules are within your department.
