Mom Asks If She’s A Jerk For Asking Childfree Coworker To Withdraw Her Christmas Holiday Request
The holidays are a special time of the year, and a huge part of what makes it so is the people that we get to spend it with.
However, a parent who goes on the British parenting forum ‘Mumsnet’ by the nickname Jessiejuju doesn’t know if she’s going to be able to do that.
Her manager said that either she or her colleague have to work on Christmas day and it was for the two women to decide who gets to do it.
But Jessiejuju confessed to the internet that it’s a hill she is willing to die on.
This mom wants to take Christmas Day off, so she asked her childfree coworker to cover her shift
Image credits: Liza Summer
But the woman has already planned to spend it with her family
Image credits: Anastasia Shuraeva
Image credits: Jessiejuju
While most of us spend Christmas Day excitedly opening presents, overindulging, and catching up with relatives, in the UK, around one million people are hard at work, just like Jessiejuju.
Usually, they’re carers and nurses, with over a quarter of a million Brits in these professions clocking in on 25 December.
Proportionally, though, those by far most likely to be working on Christmas Day are the clergy, as masses flock to services up and down the country. If anything, the percentage of them working is surprisingly low, as only one in two reported that they were working on Christmas day. But this number is still high when you compare it with the UK average of less than one in 35 working among those employed
It’s worth highlighting that UK employees are actually allowed time off to deal with an emergency involving a dependant (a dependant is considered to be a spouse, partner, child, grandchild, parent, or someone who depends on receiving their care).
The government permits “a reasonable amount of time off” to handle these situations, and there’s no set amount, as the conditions depend on each individual case. For example, if someone’s child falls ill, they can take time off to go to the doctor and make care arrangements.
However, workers cannot have time off if they knew about a situation beforehand. Which, judging from the post, is the case with Jessiejuju.
The mom should be eligible to take unpaid parental leave, though, to look after her child’s welfare. Employee rights (like the right to pay, holidays, and returning to a job) are protected during parental leave.
From what we’ve gathered so far, it sounds like it’s the manager is the one who needs to solve this conflict instead of stepping away when they’re needed the most.
As her story was going viral, the mom provided more information in the comments
Here’s what people said about the whole ordeal
Just covering the bot here so nobody has to see it: You're totally right, and I understand why the mom is frustrated, but she still can't force her colleague to give up the approved day for her.
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they made the request in April but did not get approved for xmas day off. so they knew there was a possibility they would have to work that day. of course they can ask the coworker to help them, but if the coworker says no, they need to respect that and either go to work or call out and get disciplined for it.
The same would hold true for the coworker, then. If they put in requests on the same day, don't decide between themselves, and management won't make a choice, they would both need to come in or face discussed action. If management said the decision would be NEED based it makes sense that OP expected the day off. This is a problem with management not being clear or timely.
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What erks me is that you've tried to do this the right way and you've had the door shut in your face because of it, someone who didn't care just wouldn't say a thing and feign illness without a word said. It's not the other employee's issue and it is so, so wrong for the manager to try and make it so. If there really is no one else and as OP says no one else to work the Manager and his manager above should be picking up the slack themselves as they SHOULD if someone called in sick and no willing to come in. In the UK the workplace cannot touch you if you need to take a day either as unpaid, sick leave or holiday for dependants as long as its not perpetual; (keep the receipts however) and to even threaten disciplinary over something like this would get them a huge slap from tribunal.
She should bring the kid to work with her, she doesn't say what kind of business it is, but not much will be busy xmas day. Bring things to keep the kid occupied.
Load More Replies... Just covering the bot here so nobody has to see it: You're totally right, and I understand why the mom is frustrated, but she still can't force her colleague to give up the approved day for her.
Load More Replies... they made the request in April but did not get approved for xmas day off. so they knew there was a possibility they would have to work that day. of course they can ask the coworker to help them, but if the coworker says no, they need to respect that and either go to work or call out and get disciplined for it.
The same would hold true for the coworker, then. If they put in requests on the same day, don't decide between themselves, and management won't make a choice, they would both need to come in or face discussed action. If management said the decision would be NEED based it makes sense that OP expected the day off. This is a problem with management not being clear or timely.
Load More Replies... What erks me is that you've tried to do this the right way and you've had the door shut in your face because of it, someone who didn't care just wouldn't say a thing and feign illness without a word said. It's not the other employee's issue and it is so, so wrong for the manager to try and make it so. If there really is no one else and as OP says no one else to work the Manager and his manager above should be picking up the slack themselves as they SHOULD if someone called in sick and no willing to come in. In the UK the workplace cannot touch you if you need to take a day either as unpaid, sick leave or holiday for dependants as long as its not perpetual; (keep the receipts however) and to even threaten disciplinary over something like this would get them a huge slap from tribunal.
She should bring the kid to work with her, she doesn't say what kind of business it is, but not much will be busy xmas day. Bring things to keep the kid occupied.
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