Not allowed and not approved. Can the boss do it? Then why do we have the right to take a vacation when the boss still doesn’t approve it even if we ask for a vacation?
When it comes to vacation, there are many cases that can lead to misunderstandings, both on the part of employees and on the part of employers or companies. For the issue of vacation, to better understand this issue, let’s take a look at an example story from a young person who asked via the Inbox of the New Generation Salaryman fan page.
I would like to know why I can’t use my vacation leave? Even though the company rules state that employees in this position have the right to take no more than 15 vacation days per year, I am also a company employee who wants to use my vacation leave and I need 1 week off to run errands and take my family on a trip.
After requesting permission from the boss, it turned out that the boss did not approve. This is not fair. I want to take a vacation, but he did not approve it. And if I do not take a vacation for the rest of this year, I will lose my vacation rights. So why do we have the right to let employees take a vacation?
Not allowed and not approved. Can the boss do it? What is the conclusion of this matter?
In the matter of vacation days, there is an issue that many employees still have an incorrect understanding, such as believing that vacation days are the right of employees to take when they want, to take leave continuously, and the employer has no right to refuse. On the other hand, on the company side…
Or employers also misunderstand that vacation is a benefit that the company provides to employees, which the company can give or not because it is the company’s right.
To avoid confusion and misunderstanding, let’s understand the right way to take vacation leave.
In labor law, there is no such word as “vacation” because it is not a leave day. Instead, it is called “annual leave”. In labor law, there are 3 types of holidays as follows:
Weekly holidays :
Referring to Section 28, it states that employers must provide employees with at least one weekly holiday per week, with the gap between weekly holidays not exceeding six days.
Traditional holidays (public holidays):
Referring to Section 29, it states that employers must announce traditional holidays to employees in advance, not less than 13 days per year, including National Labor Day as announced by the Minister. Employers must consider determining traditional holidays from annual government holidays, religious holidays or local customs and traditions.
Annual leave (or as we call it, vacation days):
Referring to Section 30, it is stated that employees who have worked continuously for a full year have the right to take an annual vacation of not less than 6 working days per year, whereby the employer shall determine such holidays for the employee in advance or determine them as agreed upon by the employer and the employee. In the following year, the employer may determine an annual vacation for the employee of more than 6 working days, or the employer and the employee may agree in advance to accumulate and postpone the annual vacation that has not been taken in that year to be combined with the following years. For employees who have not worked for a full year, the employer may determine the annual vacation for the employee by calculating it on a pro rata basis.
Therefore, in the 3 cases of holidays mentioned above, according to the labor law, employers are required to determine or arrange for employees to have holidays because it is the employee’s right that employers must arrange according to the law.
But why in this case, he requested a leave of absence and followed all the correct procedures, but why didn’t his boss approve it?
As we know, annual leave or vacation is a right to leave that the labor protection law requires employers to provide to employees or leave as agreed between the employer and the employees.
In the case of our previous employee, he has 15 days off per year. Let’s say that throughout the year, he has worked without ever asking for vacation, so he wants to ask for 7 days off at the end of the year (only asking for half). He probably won’t use the rest, so he accepts that it will be cut off, because the company’s rules state that if vacation days aren’t used, they are cut off and there is no accumulation of vacation days.
That’s why he was angry that his boss didn’t approve or allow him to take vacation leave even though the year was almost over and he still didn’t let him take it. This made him feel like he was being taken advantage of and not allowed to take leave, which made his vacation rights for this year disappear.
But from the perspective of the company or the manager, if employees take a long vacation, they may be worried or afraid that their work will be disrupted or have an impact. For example, if employees in a department all take a vacation for 6-7 days at the same time, what will happen to the company?
This must have had an impact on the company’s operations. That may be the reason why his request for a 7-day long vacation was not approved by his boss. For this reason, many companies have set rules that employees cannot take more than 3 or 4 consecutive days of leave.
However, even though he did not take any vacation days (because his boss did not approve it, for whatever reason), it does not mean that he will forfeit his vacation days.
The company must arrange annual vacation for him (the employee). If the boss sees that his subordinate has not taken any vacation and now the year is almost over, he should reach an agreement with the employee by making a vacation schedule for him, setting the vacation days according to his entitlement this year, which is 15 days. Or if he does not want the employee to take too long vacation, he should find a solution with the employee by carrying over the remaining vacation days to next year instead.
And what if the employee doesn’t want to take leave to take vacation? What should you do?
This is possible because there are many employees who may be energetic, workaholic, and do nothing but work to the point of not wanting to take a vacation. To prevent future problems, the supervisor must have the employees who do not want to take a vacation write a letter to the supervisor stating that they intend not to use the remaining vacation time this year, and the employees must then sign their names as proof.
If you do this, the employee will not be able to demand that the company pay for vacation days, and the company will not have to pay vacation days to the employee because it is in accordance with Section 30 of the Labor Law, which means that the company has provided annual vacation days, but the employee did not exercise his rights.
But if the company and the employee do not follow the above process, the employee can demand that the company pay for the vacation days that the employee did not take. In short, the company must pay the vacation days to the employee.
Conclusion
Not allowed and not approved. Can the boss do it? We probably have the answer to this question.
In terms of annual leave or vacation, it is a right to take leave that the Labor Protection Act requires employers to provide to employees or take leave as agreed between the employer and the employees.
If the employee requests a day off but the employer does not agree or does not approve, the employer must allow the employee to waive the day off to the next year or agree to pay the employee as wages. If the employee does not provide a day off, there is a criminal penalty and the employee must be paid for working on the day off as if the employee worked on the day off.
Therefore, before employees exercise their vacation rights, they should study the regulations set by the company to understand them first. Although taking leave is the right of the employees, the use of such rights must be under the company’s leave regulations.
If the employee does not follow the company’s regulations, the supervisor also has the right not to approve the vacation. And if the employee knows that the supervisor does not approve the leave, the employee taking time off to take the vacation by himself is considered a neglect of duty, which the company or supervisor can take action and punish.
Thank you for the information from the Ministry of Justice.
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