My son works a company that is very strict when the employees take annual leave. like no A/L Oct Nov & Dec as its busy, no A/L April & May & has to have 6 of days over the christmas period. Well anyway my son is desp to get out and find work with better prospects and better pay (currently does 50hrs on min wage). He has successfully got himself two interviews and has asked for the day off as A/L so he can attend one but his employer said no (they didnt know it was interview), the other interview is for a few days later and someone else is already off at work so he knows he cant take it off. He is going to phone one of them today to re arrange the date and time and the other one he cant change until next week when the interviewer is back from holiday!
so frustrating because even if he changes the date and time they still wont allow him to take an A/L day and he doesn't want to go sick as it will look suspicious and be on his record. He wont tell them what he wants the time off for because if doesn't get the jobs he's then got to stay there and feels it might be uncomfortable. He's only 22 and had one previous job to this which he was made redundant and then got his present job within a few weeks. He might not be the very very brightest bulb in the box but works hard and is extremely reliable. I feel I dont know what to suggest so he can get to these interviews and need some help!!!

If he wants to better himself and the two jobs provide him with  better personal development and better prospects then I would suggest as his current employers sound very inflexible then try and get the two interviews on the same day and take the day off sick. I would however ask the two companies if they are able to do out of hours interviews first.

Like previous..if he can manage to get a day off, to try & get as many interviews, on the one day as he can stand. Not easy if he is limited to when he can take his days, so he may well have to through a couple of sick days...

> I would however ask the two companies if they are able to do out of hours interviews first.

That's the better solution. I'd be very wary of taking a 'sickie' (personally, I don't agree with them at all) because, by the sound of the company, they well may check up on people (phone them at home/turn up on the doorstep etc) and then he could lose his job :(

>> I would however ask the two companies if they are able to do out of hours interviews first.
> That's the better solution. I'd be very wary of taking a 'sickie' (personally, I don't agree with them at all) because, by the sound of the company, they well may check up on people (phone them at home/turn up on the doorstep etc) and then he could lose his job :-(

Yes, I agree..I dont take a sick day unless I am(been in my present job 5 years and can easily count on 1 hand my sick days). Only suggested because the presnt employer seems unflexable on days off(which folk can do with how they please).

Yes I agree in this instance as a last resort as they do seem to be so inflexible to the point of obstructive. If somebody turned up from work the day I went off sick to check on me I would class that as harassment.

What a shame for your son that the company is so inflexible--I wonder what their staff turnover is like! You've already had advice from others about claiming the day as sick leave--I'd just add to that by saying that if the companies he is now approaching for work find out, they may have doubts about his integrity. Explain the circumstances to interviewer and see whether an out of hours or lunchtime interview is possible. Good luck to your son, hope he gets the job he wants!

> If somebody turned up from work the day I went off sick to check on me I would class that as harassment.

Just depends on the employee :) Where I used to work, one of the women asked for time off for holiday. The boss/owner (small company) said she couldn't have it as people were off at an exhibition then, so she went sick. The boss went round to her house, no-one in so rang her ex-husband (she had school aged children who lived with him) to 'check that she was OK' and he said that she was on holiday :) She got the sack. The boss had checked everything out with his personnel advisor beforehand to make sure he was OK to do this.

This says that 50 per cent of employers check up on staff calling in sick !!

Your son can also ring the ACAS helpline for free advice, they are open till 5.30pm- call 08457 474 747

There are better ways to reduce sickness absences and harassing people is definitely not one of them !

Companies have to realise that treating staff with respect and valuing them will in return bring benefits to them resulting in better productivity and staff retention.

There are better ways of managing persistant sickness absence. If it is a common problem in a company then the company should look closer to home to why it is happening rather than blame the individuals.

> Companies have to realise that treating staff with respect and valuing them will in return bring benefits to them resulting in better productivity and staff
> retention

Of course - but it works both ways ! The company I used to work for had excellent owner/staff relations. This particular woman just took advantage (the first thing she did in the morning before the owners arrived was to make private phonecalls etc). I (and a lot of my colleagues) have always taken a pride in NOT taking sickies - after all it is just lying/cheating which I don't do anyway - and we were all very annoyed at her behaviour. Of course employers should ensure that conditions are good etc, but in large organisations, in particular, you just can't have a culture of being 'owed' time off/taking sickies - it can also make genuine sickness embarassing as employees feel that they are under suspicion :(

Whe somebody is persistently breaking company policies and rules then yes they should be dealt with in the appropriate way.

Is there not a way that he could attend the interiews and then come into work later therefore working the correct hours. Or make up the hours before he goes to the interviews.

How do they deal with other kinds of appointments during working hours, like Dental, doctor Family planning, health screening?

What I mean is would he have to say exactly why he needed an hour off that he would be willing to make up later.  do they do flexible working hours that interviews could be arranged in a longer lunch break/before/after work?

I agree with the sick days not being the answer as if the new company found out then it could jepodise chances - why employ someone that can throw sickies to get days off.

He only has half hr lunch and the interview is 40 mins away so not an option. I have asked him to ask his employer for just half a day but he wont as says there no point. He hasn't even rung the other company about thier interview yet - cant get through to him how important it is to phone and explain but it think he just feels he wont get the time off and doesn't know what to do. I have had a bit a go about not phoning to try and change the interview toady so he's not speaking me now! great, why do us mums try try and try to help and then get it thrown back. I feel all knotted about it and want to phone these people myself and get it sorted as thats the type of person I am, but will hold off of course.
thanks for the advise everyone.

I think there is minimal risk of the employer finding out and if they really want him they will be willing to accept he had to because he wanted the job and because of the way his employer treated him it was the last resort.

I think so long as all other options have been considered then the last resort is something that is worth pursuing.

The employer is taking alot of liberties so to me so long as he can prove he has explored other options then it is justifiable. How else are any of the employees ever able to get another job ? An employer doesn't have the right to hold people to ransom :-)

Can he simply tell them he needs time off for ' a private matter' that he doesn't wish to discuss?

Karen

It might be worth trying the 'doctors appointment / dentist appointment' route - I know with the time travelling you'd be looking at 2 - 2.5 hours, but he could claim his doctor was a distance away or that they were running late?