Archived Store Refusing vacation

[countingsheep]

This is a bit confusing Im going to try to explain it right.

Now I know after you accumulate a certain amount of hours you stop accruing (sp?) and you enter a use it or lose it situation. Its my understanding (please correct me if I am wrong) that some companies get penalized for not letting people use that time before its lost.

Is that a state by state law or is it a company thing? Do they get punished? How would one deal with a situation where it never seems convient to take 2wks off especially during slow times?

This isnt a situation with me its another tm at my store who has never been employed before target and is being kinda jerked around about their vacation time. Just trying to figure out if there is a legalish foothold here.

Edit: if it helps they are in a workcenter that doesnt have alot of people to step in its not like a regular salesfloor position.

 

[redeye58]

@HRZone, @HRLady, et al - Got yer ears on?

 

[notfit05]

Idk about the store but the dc we are only allowed so many people out on a given night that Nimber fluctuates depending on volume and number of people in that Dept . If it comes down to loosening it or using it take a single day here and there if you have to in order to use it up, better get something than nothing, and for future reference utilize the mass vacation form at beginning of year ( assuming the stores do mass vacation ) ( should be going on right now )

 

[countingsheep]

What is a mass vacation form? At our store they only allow you to put in 3wks ahead they auto reject anything further out I am not sure why.

 

[Yetive]

That is your store?! That is nuts. I don't think there is anything legal concerning this. I would go to the leader and say that you need to buy tickets or whatever, and you need a definite answer. Explain that it's not fair to lose vacation time.

Also, auto denials are a result of leaders not doing anything with requests. It's usually a good idea to put in a request then pester your leader to look at and approve it.

 

[HRLady]

Now I know after you accumulate a certain amount of hours you stop accruing (sp?) and you enter a use it or lose it situation.

When you reach a certain limit and stop accruing, it is more of a vacation "cap" situation than a "use it or lose it" situation. A "use it or lose it" situation is when you lose your vacation hours if you don't use them by a certain time. At Target, vacation time carries over from year to year. You never lose your vacation hours unless you work in a state that doesn't pay out your vacation hours at termination.

Its my understanding (please correct me if I am wrong) that some companies get penalized for not letting people use that time before its lost. Is that a state by state law or is it a company thing? Do they get punished?

Most states allow companies to have "use it or lose it" policies. There are a couple of states like California, Nebraska, and Montana who don't allow "use it or lose it." In these three states where it is illegal, companies can get punished.

How would one deal with a situation where it never seems convient to take 2wks off especially during slow times?

If the problem is mainly that your coworker wants to use vacation pay but can't take actual time off to use it, then they can just put in a Paid Time Off request for using vacation pay in EHR anyway. They don't need to actually take time off to use get paid using vacation hours. The only catch is that they can only bring their total hours up to their average hours. If their total hours worked is more than their average hours, then they can't use their vacation pay for that week.

If your coworker actually needs a break from work as well (due to total worked hours being frequently above their average hours or whatever other reason) but is consistently getting denied, then communicate with HR. In 1st quarter, when hours are usually down, TMs have a better chance of getting their vacations approved.

Edit: if it helps they are in a workcenter that doesnt have alot of people to step in its not like a regular salesfloor position.

I have never seen anyone of any position in the store not go on vacation (STL all the way to Cashier). I am curious which work center is it that your leadership feels would collapse without your coworker for 2 weeks.

 

[SFSFun]

assuming the stores do mass vacation

We do not.

I am curious which work center is it that your leadership feels would collapse without your coworker for 2 weeks.

My newest ETL felt that way the first time I wanted to take a week off from SFS. I can also see there being potential issues with pog/signing and any small specialty team or position.

 

[countingsheep]

When you reach a certain limit and stop accruing, it is more of a vacation "cap" situation than a "use it or lose it" situation. A "use it or lose it" situation is when you lose your vacation hours if you don't use them by a certain time.

Ok I wasnt sure on that one as my dads job doesnt carry over thank you for clearing that one up for me. My dad doesnt work for target.

If your coworker actually needs a break from work as well (due to total worked hours being frequently above their average hours or whatever other reason) but is consistently getting denied, then communicate with HR. In 1st quarter, when hours are usually down, TMs have a better chance of getting their vacations approved.

Im not sure if they have talked to HR yet but I have told them to do so.


I have never seen anyone of any position in the store not go on vacation (STL all the way to Cashier). I am curious which work center is it that your leadership feels would collapse without your coworker for 2 weeks.

Edit: oops some of my response went into the quote im not sure how I did that lol sorry

Its Starbucks tbh idk if that will out me a bit but we only have a few tms trained there and our lods and gstl dont tend to support them at all as far as coverage. Our stand in tl (someone who does the tl stuff without the tl title since our food tl shoves them aside) basically has said they cant have anyone taking time off.

I really dont understand it I mean they can cross train people for crying out loud. I feel like there is other stuff going on Im not privy to but figured I would come here to see if I can help more.

The vacay wasnt being auto denied it was being rejected within a day or two requested its not even going to take affect until april. Personally I have never had vacation denied so Im not sure what other advice I can give.

 

[HRLady]

My newest ETL felt that way the first time I wanted to take a week off from SFS. I can also see there being potential issues with pog/signing and any small specialty team or position.

It's probably because you are super great at your job, so great to the point where they can't imagine a day in SFS without you, SFSFun!

Yeah, I guess signing maybe since there is only 1 TM (at least at my store).

For small teams, as long as they don't approve too many people being gone at the same time, they should be fine. I am not saying it will be easy because it is definitely harder for the time being. Just like with people quitting, the team struggles for a little bit until a replacement comes, or in this case, the TM returns.

Ok I wasnt sure on that one as my dads job doesnt carry over thank you for clearing that one up for me. My dad doesnt work for target.

Yeah, no problem! Always glad to help a fellow breakroom buddy out.

Im not sure if they have talked to HR yet but I have told them to do so.

Before going to HR, talk to whoever handles the unpaid time off request approvals at your store. It is usually the leaders who approve these. (I recommended HR earlier because I thought your coworker had already spoken with your leader and they were not allowing anyone on your entire team to take vacation.)

Its Starbucks tbh idk if that will out me a bit but we only have a few tms trained there and our lods and gstl dont tend to support them at all as far as coverage. Our stand in tl (someone who does the tl stuff without the tl title since our food tl shoves them aside) basically has said they cant have anyone taking time off.

I really dont understand it I mean they can cross train people for crying out loud. I feel like there is other stuff going on Im not privy to but figured I would come here to see if I can help more.

The vacay wasnt being auto denied it was being rejected within a day or two requested its not even going to take affect until april. Personally I have never had vacation denied so Im not sure what other advice I can give.

So your stand in Starbucks "TL," who is actually Team Member, is saying that you guys cannot take vacation because of coverage reasons? Yeah, I agree with you that they can probably cross train someone in time for the April vacation. I am not an expert on how Starbucks is run though so maybe @Yetive and @redeye58 can further advise.

It sounds like the vacation that you are referring to might be the Unpaid Time Off request (asking to not be scheduled to work so that you can go on vacation, etc) instead. This is separate from Paid Time Off request (getting paid via vacation, personal holiday, and well-being). Unfortunately, the Unpaid Time Off request has no guarantee of being approved. Did your coworker look at the request to see what the comments said?

 

[countingsheep]

So your stand in Starbucks "TL," who is actually Team Member, is saying that you guys cannot take vacation because of coverage reasons? Yeah, I agree with you that they can probably cross train someone in time for the April vacation. I am not an expert on how Starbucks is run though so maybe @Yetive and @redeye58 can further advise.

It sounds like the vacation that you are referring to might be the Unpaid Time Off request (asking to not be scheduled to work so that you can go on vacation, etc) instead. This is separate from Paid Time Off request (getting paid via vacation, personal holiday, and well-being). Unfortunately, the Unpaid Time Off request has no guarantee of being approved. Did your coworker look at the request to see what the comments said?

From what I understand the person (whom I hav3 known for a while at our store) helping run starbucks has been having the etl ge reject requests. This is the first time nor first person. Thats another bag of worms I dont want to deal with.

I didnt think maybe they were mixing up the two requests Im going to have to check with them. We are scheduled usually the same shifts (I am softlines) so I think I will have them show me their rejected requests. I didnt onow they could leave comments where is that at? I hav3 never had a request rejected before so I am a bit at a loss.

 

[HRLady]

I didnt onow they could leave comments where is that at? I hav3 never had a request rejected before so I am a bit at a loss.

Go to myTime self service. You should see a list of the requests that were submitted. Click on the specific request. It should open up a copy of what was submitted along with any comments made by the person who approved/denied it.

 

[HRZone]

The vacay wasnt being auto denied it was being rejected within a day or two requested its not even going to take affect until april. Personally I have never had vacation denied so Im not sure what other advice I can give.

The team member should click on the denial. When you see a vacation denied the leader is supposed to put a reason.

There are legitimate reasons to deny a vacation. My store has a first come first serve, if we have 6 Starbucks team members and 3 want time off. We might give the first two time off as first come first serve. The third person is going to get denied.

From what I understand the person (whom I hav3 known for a while at our store) helping run starbucks has been having the etl ge reject requests. This is the first time nor first person. Thats another bag of worms I dont want to deal with.

Fyi it's never a good idea to just put in a request without talking to a leader. At my store if you randomly put in a request it's going to be denied.

 

[Yetive]

If you ask me for vacation with advance notice, and I deny it because we don't have enough trained TMs atm, I am not doing my job. Also, TM should not be making these decisions. Food TL needs to get his sh** together and start leading his team.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Talk to your etl about your vacation & submit your request off. Communication is the key.

 

[notfit05]

What is a mass vacation form? At our store they only allow you to put in 3wks ahead they auto reject anything further out I am not sure why.

I guess as you guys don’t do that at the store then , we get a form to fill out the first of Jan and have two weeks to turn it in on said form you list the days or weeks you know for sure you want off and in what priority hey are to you ( preference of said days also goes by seniority ) this being said you can still ask to “get in the book “ ( be off) for any day or days just required to give 24 hour min notice and that day or days have to be open

 

[smashandthrash]

Idk about the store but the dc we are only allowed so many people out on a given night that Nimber fluctuates depending on volume and number of people in that Dept . If it comes down to loosening it or using it take a single day here and there if you have to in order to use it up, better get something than nothing, and for future reference utilize the mass vacation form at beginning of year ( assuming the stores do mass vacation ) ( should be going on right now )

Yeah, vacation is handled very differently at the store. They can take unpaid time off, for example. Paid doesn't accumulate as fast either.

 

[signingminion]

I know for our store two weeks at a time might be rough. Without months of forethought to prepare most work centers would be stressed, especiallyif its a strong tm.

 

[Mamabear]

This is a bit confusing Im going to try to explain it right.

Now I know after you accumulate a certain amount of hours you stop accruing (sp?) and you enter a use it or lose it situation. Its my understanding (please correct me if I am wrong) that some companies get penalized for not letting people use that time before its lost.

Is that a state by state law or is it a company thing? Do they get punished? How would one deal with a situation where it never seems convient to take 2wks off especially during slow times?

This isnt a situation with me its another tm at my store who has never been employed before target and is being kinda jerked around about their vacation time. Just trying to figure out if there is a legalish foothold here.

Edit: if it helps they are in a workcenter that doesnt have alot of people to step in its not like a regular salesfloor position.

Maybe take them one week at a time instead of 2.

 

[Mamabear]

I guess as you guys don’t do that at the store then , we get a form to fill out the first of Jan and have two weeks to turn it in on said form you list the days or weeks you know for sure you want off and in what priority hey are to you ( preference of said days also goes by seniority ) this being said you can still ask to “get in the book “ ( be off) for any day or days just required to give 24 hour min notice and that day or days have to be open

Why are they not using the request time off section on HR page. How antiquated to still be writing it down on paper . Seems off somehow

 

[Saul Goodman]

I guess as you guys don’t do that at the store then , we get a form to fill out the first of Jan and have two weeks to turn it in on said form you list the days or weeks you know for sure you want off and in what priority hey are to you ( preference of said days also goes by seniority ) this being said you can still ask to “get in the book “ ( be off) for any day or days just required to give 24 hour min notice and that day or days have to be open

Why is your store living in the Stone age? Does your HR wear a fannypack and ETL's all have beepers and wear Target tie-dye shirts?

"screw you Janine I'll put my request off in the computer like a civilized person"

 

[HRLady]

Why is your store living in the Stone age? Does your HR wear a fannypack and ETL's all have beepers and wear Target tie-dye shirts?

"screw you Janine I'll put my request off in the computer like a civilized person"

I think @notfit05 works at a distribution center so their request process might be a little different than at stores.

 

[BackroomBear]

A lot fewer DC TMs to fill in vacation gaps so they need to plan longer term

 

[notfit05]

Why is your store living in the Stone age? Does your HR wear a fannypack and ETL's all have beepers and wear Target tie-dye shirts?

"screw you Janine I'll put my request off in the computer like a civilized person"

Dc not store and they have to be input manually by hr to be able to look at seniority when it comes to who can have what day etc

 

[RhettB]

This is a bit confusing Im going to try to explain it right.

Now I know after you accumulate a certain amount of hours you stop accruing (sp?) and you enter a use it or lose it situation. Its my understanding (please correct me if I am wrong) that some companies get penalized for not letting people use that time before its lost.

Is that a state by state law or is it a company thing? Do they get punished? How would one deal with a situation where it never seems convient to take 2wks off especially during slow times?

This isnt a situation with me its another tm at my store who has never been employed before target and is being kinda jerked around about their vacation time. Just trying to figure out if there is a legalish foothold here.

Edit: if it helps they are in a workcenter that doesnt have alot of people to step in its not like a regular salesfloor position.

They can always call in, then use some vaca time