Holiday entitlement/ lack of contract

[Superficial]

Hi,

I have been working at a company since May 2009, despite persistently asking three different members of management including the area manager about a contract of employment I have yet to receive one. The company isn't exactly professional; I don't remember the last time we were given pay slips, they refuse to pay sick pay, they are only giving me half the hours I was employed to do, amongst other things.

We have booked a last minute holiday, so to be fair the company didn't have much notice, but when I booked it the store manager was absolutely fine about it and just put it on the calender. Now (two days after telling them) the area manager has said I can't take the holiday, apparently they need 4 weeks notice for holidays that last longer than a week 'as detailed in my contract.' What has really griped me though is the fact the area manager is referring to this non existent contract, having never been given one I wasn't aware that there was a policy on taking holiday, let alone that they required 4 weeks notice! I really have been persistently asking them for a contract since I started so don't feel this should fall on my shoulders.

The holiday is booked and paid for, the area manager wants me to call him asap. Do I have a leg to stand on? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[CHIEF]

Say to the area manager that you only booked the holiday when your manager authorized it. With regards to the 4 weeks notice, did you bring up that you in fact haven't a contract. It sounds they are a completely disorganised company and they're back tracking.

My only concern is you've only been there since May.

I'm sure someone will be along shortly who knows a damn sight more about employment law then me but if it were me and i know jobs are hard to come by but i'd stand firm, you dont have a contract and your manager authorised it.

Incidentally how many weeks notice did you give?

Edited by CHIEF on Wednesday 10th February 01:15

[Superficial]

CHIEF said:

Say to the area manager that you only booked the holiday when your manager authorized it. With regards to the 4 weeks notice, did you bring up that you in fact haven't a contract. It sounds they are a completely disorganised company and they're back tracking.

My only concern is you've only been there since May.

I'm sure someone will be along shortly who knows a damn site more about employment law then me but if it were me and i know jobs are hard to come by but i'd stand firm, you dont have a contract and your manager authorised it.

Incidentally how many weeks notice did you give?

The manager who told me the A.M. wouldn't let me take the holiday didn't want to get involved in the contract side of things, he has just referred me back to the A.M. to discuss it all with. The A.M. is married to the manager who authorised it, so not sure which side he will take with me, but he seems pretty peeved about the whole thing despite it being his wife who granted it to me!

Would love to be in a position to just leave but as you say jobs are scarce and I can't afford to leave until I've found something else. Thanks for the swift reply

[cbcbcb]

If it were me, I'd get as much written evidence as possible (print out any relevant emails), inform my manager that I was going on holiday as previously agreed, and be ready to fight about it on return if necessary.

IANAL but I believe you don't need to have been employed for any minimum time to have protection from dismissal following on from insisting on statutory employment rights, so they can't fire you for demanding a written statement of terms & conditions, or for taking your annual leave.

[Muzzer]

If it were me, and I wanted to keep my job, I'd cancel the holiday and make sure I get a contract.

Sorry OP - this is a tough break and you've done nothing wrong - but if you pursue this aggressively, you'll more than likely be out on your ear.

If you must, give the area manager a quick call and plead for common sense but if you get short shrift, suck it up.

[wiggy001]

Is there anything you can do to reduce the impact on the company while you're away (agree for a colleague to cover, work a bit extra now to get ahead of yourself)? This will work in your favour.

Actually, what difference would 4 weeks notice make? Would they need to hire a temp to cover you for example? If not, I can't see what the issue is and if there is no actual issue to the company (other than the boss' nose being put out) then hopefully they'll see sense on the whole matter.

[Superficial]

Thanks for all the replies.

Unfortunately I don't have any written evidence, just verbal agreement. The holiday has cost about a months wages for me so I'm reluctant to just cancel it and lose my money. I think it's worth persuing, being a 19 year old woman who's fairly quiet at work I wouldn't know how to go about it aggresively, lol. I'm just hoping he will see things from my perspective and understand.

I actually work as a delivery driver so can't really plan ahead with work, but I will probably suggest I can come back to work a couple of days early, thanks for the suggestion. We've just taken on loads of new guys, and people are always after extra hours so cover isn't a problem. I'm just really confused to be honest, the boss isn't popular with most people but I've always got on with him fine so a bit miffed about why he's being seemingly awkward.

Again, thanks for the responses so far