Friday evening question...I have recently resigned from my company and want to use my holidays to cover part of the notice period.My company is refusing to allow any holiday and I have only asked for 3. They are OK to pay for all my remaining holidays but do not want me to take even a day off.Are they within their right to do it?I definitely need that time off, so what could be my options? Postponing my joining date is not an option.Can I just take those days off as sick, this is sure to p**s them off as they know my intention to take those days off.To make matters worse my manager has now scheduled a meeting thrice a day to see how I am doing...well micromanagement cannot go higher than this.I dont want to burn bridges but this seems like them being totally inflexible.Sorry for the rant but any thoughts?

Life is 1% what happens to you and 99% how you react.Behave with grace all the time.

Always book your holidays before you give in your notice...pro tip for next time..

"Postponing my joining date is not an option."So you want to be employed by two jobs at once? I can see why your current employer is being funny with you. Why do people do this? Postpone your start date at the new place. Or negotiate early release from your current employer (note that taking holiday is not the same as early release from contract).Worst case scenario is that you lose both jobs and could theoretically be taken to court for breach of contract by your current employer.

Yes they are within their rights. The thrice a day stuff - that's different and bordering on harassment. You might want to mention that.

Mars,If me, I'd make it more than 3 :DI'd go to the manager every hour or so, asking if things were done OK, if there were other assignments to do, etc.Even more so if the manager was good looking.Konsultant, How the eff can you call yourself a consultant and come on here with this joke of a question?If you want to ask about women, there's Braveheart. If you want to ask about the looney left, there's BEP. If you want to know about Salford totties, there's DC.But your question???

Has your current company even tried some kind of counteroffer to whatever the new one is offering, given that they seem so keen to keep you for as many days as possible?

My understanding in a job change is that it's indeed important your former employer to be happy, but it's your new employer that must be happier, as they are important for your future pay and overal well-being. Also in regards to the burning of bridges I dont necessarily agree with that argument: after you leave a company, I think that you are remembered for your overall contribution throughout the time you spent there, not on the grounds of leaving 1-2 days before they wanted you in order to squeeze out all the work they could from you. I've been fired once from a company, after notifying them that i was about to join a competitor (not in the UK, business culture is different in other areas of the world), and the same person who fired me invited me for an interview a couple of years later. Also, the same client stakeholder with whom I (and everybody else) were disagreeing with throughout an engagement, evetually offered me a job when he got an opening, as he apparently thought I would be of use to his team. On the contrary, when an employer who twas of the opinion that bridges should not been burned, treated me of the utmost respect and support when I left -and vice versa of course- it was really over in terms of any potential future collaboration, as I never thought it would be useful for me to get back in his team.For consultants, the most important thing is the CV and the relationships we build with our clients, not our employers.So I'd stick to the indeed pro advise provided above re holiday bookings in advance :-)

[quote]For consultants, the most important thing is the CV and the relationships we build with our clients, not our employers.So I'd stick to the indeed pro advise provided above re holiday bookings in advance :-)[/quote]Indeed - so if leaving early pisses off the clients then it's a different kettle of fish - I stuck around until 5pm on my last day on the other side of the country so that the client could see I did everything I could to do a good handover!

I see some really contradictory advice here[i]For consultants, the most important thing is the CV and the relationships we build with our clients, not our employers.[/i]Well, unless you plan to go contracting directly with the clients of your former employer, then your employers are, for all intents and purposes, your clients. And you might need them again in the future. So no, it may be a bad idea to pìss them off unelss strictly necessary.Ideally you'd want everybody to be happy. If it's a zero sum game, make sure your new employer is happier than the one you have left rather than viceversa, but by all means avoid to disproportionately anger who you are leaving to please your new master.I'd dare to say that plesing somebody has decreasing returns but there's nearly no limit to how much you can enrage somebody, but again, we are talking about people, so it'll never be an exact science.CaffeineUseDisorder: did the very different experiences of leaving that you have mentioned happen in the same country i.e. not the UK?Because I guess that might make them less relevant to the thread opener. Also, assuming circumstances were comparable, the two different reactions prove my point that it comes down to people and no unifying theory can be drawn here whatsoever other than upsetting nobody is better than upsetting somebody.Finally, to the thread-opener, I read you writing:"I definitely need that time off"[i]Well, do you, punk? ; )[/i]I reckon you should man up and basically ask of yourself what you are expecting from any of the two companies involved. You've made your bed, now lie in it...

[quote]Indeed - so if leaving early pisses off the clients then it's a different kettle of fish - I stuck around until 5pm on my last day on the other side of the country so that the client could see I did everything I could to do a good handover![/quote]+1It's all about behaving with grace and having class. The one thing I noticed with younger people these days is that they don't know how to react to difficult situations.OP, what is you were on a project? Would you tell the client that you're leaving your employer and as such, want days off to use annual leave?

Thanks for the helpful and the harsh replies.I have noted the pro tip and always book holidays in advance...especially if they are long ones. In my case I am asking to be released only few days early and if required I can take those remaining days as holidays."negotiate early release from your current employer" Exactly, this is what I want and is being denied and the reason for my post. As a employer I can understand if someone is demanding a long holiday, but I am only talking of few days and hence was asking if they are within their rights to deny it. And if yes, then I have choice of working right till the end or take a more firmer position which would mean burning bridges and potentially taking them as sick days or gently hinting that it is in no ones interest if I am being forced to work.If grace is the word then yes I will have to swallow my frustration and work till the last day.

Boohoo! Harsh replies :(Work till the last day. Do what you need to do. Leave with your head held high.Don't forget that tactic. See your manager 10 times a day! :D