{"id":7059,"date":"2025-02-17T13:37:35","date_gmt":"2025-02-17T08:07:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monsterindia.com\/career-advice\/forced-to-forgo-an-optional-leave-heres-how-to-ask-for-time-off-7059\/"},"modified":"2025-02-28T13:37:38","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T08:07:38","slug":"forced-to-forgo-an-optional-leave-heres-how-to-ask-for-time-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/forced-to-forgo-an-optional-leave-heres-how-to-ask-for-time-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Forced to forgo an optional leave? Here’s how to ask for time off"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"leave\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stuck at work while your family and friends are celebrating a holiday? We\u2019ve all been there. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being called in to work on an optional holiday isn\u2019t unusual. An important meeting, an approaching deadline, an urgent assignment or even sparse attendance in your department when there\u2019s lots of work to be done are among several reasons why your boss may call you in, forcing you to cancel your holiday plans. Unless you have a crucial engagement that actually justifies your absence, we wouldn\u2019t recommend you say no to your boss\u2019 request. Instead, you can ask for leave later on to make up for the missed holiday. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the catch here is that the rules about compensatory leave in lieu of an optional holiday differ from company to company. If your organization allows employees to take an alternate day off, here\u2019s what to keep in mind before you ask for it:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time your request<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n


Never approach the boss when s\/he is preoccupied, hassled or angry. Also try and be smart about choosing when you want to take off. Pick a day when there\u2019s less work and enough people to fill in for you. Remember, your boss has a hundred things to do at work and looking into a subordinates\u2019 work-life balance isn\u2019t really top priority.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also Read:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maximising Your Annual Leave<\/strong><\/a><\/td>Leave Travel Allowance (LTA)<\/strong><\/a><\/td><\/tr>
11 Types of Leaves Offered by Companies in India<\/strong><\/a><\/td>Sabbatical Leave Meaning<\/strong><\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Give enough notice<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n


Make sure you allow your team leader enough time to make alternative arrangements during your absence. A week\u2019s notice is generally good enough for one day of leave, but it also depends on your role in the company and how that\u2019s impacted if you\u2019re not in, deadlines, team strength and attendance, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Share a good reason<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n


If you\u2019re asking for a day off in lieu of an optional holiday you worked on, find a geniune reason for leave. Taking a family member to the doctor, attending your children\u2019s school annual day celebrations or going to receive a relative at the airport are valid reasons for seeking a day off. If you don\u2019t have an excuse that is plausible, however, refrain from citing it altogether. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Optional holidays are generally religion or community-specific, so making a passing reference to the fact that you worked on a day when the rest of the country was celebrating could also work in your favour. Remember, request for leave, don\u2019t demand it. Being overly aggressive and viewing leave as an entitlement rather than a privilege is sure to upset the boss and lead to certain rejection.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Co-opt your colleagues<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n


It\u2019s always a good idea to co-opt a colleague into your plans, asking him\/her to step in for you, and mention that to your boss when you ask for leave. You can always repay your friend by filling in for him\/her later. Going to managers with a problem as well as a solution makes decision-making easy for them. The boss can always come up with alternatives in case s\/he thinks otherwise but you will be appreciated for trying to help out.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no getting around the fact that optional holidays are, in fact, elective. If you\u2019re entitled to, say, two optional holidays a year from a list of 14, you are free to choose when you want to take off. However, if work beckons, you ought to reconsider, unless you have something major planned. If you\u2019re allowed to defer the optional day off, ask confidently for an alternate day and don\u2019t forget to thank the boss if s\/he agrees!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related Article:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Privilege Leave?<\/strong><\/a><\/td>What is Bereavement Leave<\/strong><\/a><\/td><\/tr>
Leave Application for Marriage<\/strong><\/a><\/td>Garden Leave vs Notice Period<\/strong><\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stuck at work while your family and friends are celebrating a holiday? We\u2019ve all been there. Being called in to work on an optional holiday isn\u2019t unusual. An important meeting, an approaching deadline, an urgent assignment or even sparse attendance in your department when there\u2019s lots of work to be done are among several reasons […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7059","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leave-application"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7059"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40793,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7059\/revisions\/40793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foundit.sg\/career-advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}