melaniee

Do most companies make you 'build up' your leave before you are allowed to take it or can you take it ahead of what you have built up ?

Potato_potato

In regards to sick leave, some companies will give you the 5, 7 or 10 days upfront to take as you need. If you don't use it, you will lose it at the end of the year working for them and the days start over. Although, other companies will make you accrue it.

Annual leave is accrued. Most companies give 20 days per annum. 5 days every 3 months, or 1 or so days every fortnight. Most companies are sweet with you taking it when you want as 1 day only or in week slots. Of course you need to work with your boss to arrange a convenient time though.

Some companies close down for a week or 2 over xmas, so they like you to have the days accrued to cover this. If you don't, they will just take it off future days accrued.

All of this should be in your contract. If not, just ask payroll or those Human Resource bludgers.

Red_V_Roger

Generally, most companies want you to have 'earned' holidays before you can take them. This is certainly true of my company and my wife's.

Though at both our companies people who have started after us have taken much more than their earned holidays. We wonder if they take them unpaid - After all, 20 days a year is really poor in a country that has so much to do.

jayr

Some companies even have policy of working for 12 months and accruing the 20 days before you can take any.

Not sure they actually enforce it.

While 20 days may seem stingy (though not by comparison with the US), there is also an entitlement to 10 days of sick/carer's leave.

Sick leave also accrues and some attempt to build it up to cover say 90 days; a period in which any unemployment insurance they may have is not paid out.

Most, however, assume the 10 days to be additional annual leave.

melaniee

Thanks. The reason I was asking was that because someone we know was refused A/L recently because they had not built it up. I had not heard of this before. I am neagtive at the moment for A/L but if I leave my current company then they just deduct it from my last pay. Also they have had to take their sick leave as unpaid leave as they have not earnt enough sick leave yet either-if you are sick, you are sick !

Potato_potato

Some employers are more flexible than others.