Hi everyone,
This is not so much an anti work post as a situation where I'd love to approve something but where it inherently clashes with the type of work we as a team and as a business need done by this role and I'd love input from the other side of the fence.
I have a small team , 3 inc me as supervisor, one who has been here 4 years and really contributes very well to the team and a new to industry graduate who's been with us for a year.
The graduate has not yet finished their graduate program and wants to change their roster to one that is beneficial to them (much longer hours, more days off in a row) but not to our team or the business. Although I support the idea in theory, as we can't get someone to cover her time away on her preferred roster due to budgets and she is the most junior in the team so she can't currently cover the projects the other team member (4 year) is doing is doing if the 4 yr covered the other side of the roster.
The hours may be the same, but the days of coverage is not.
Now I found out she's wanting/ planned to take 12 + weeks of leave next year. 2-3 are for her wedding= ok, we can cover that, the rest is for an extended trip overseas that would fall during our busiest reporting period, leave no coverage for other staff to take rostered days off, leave or fall unwell. Getting a contractor is a large cost + the contractor would be unfamiliar with our site so only able to do 1/2 of the work + need a lot of supervision.
I'm supportive of people taking sabbaticals etc, however I do feel this is just starting to take the pi$$, mainly due to the impost in would place on the rest of the team, especially as she is very new to the company, we've spent over $15000 in additional training this year and she is only just getting up to speed. At this point,she is a valued part of our team, but inherently does not share the same level of drive our other team member has ( also ok, just harder to work with in a smaller team).
In a large consultancy or something, I'd approve this in a heartbeat, within a smaller team, it's very difficult to work around.
Would love your thoughts on how you would manage this/ thoughts in general. I don't want to unnecessarily say no, but at this point it's going to be very difficult to say yes. also cognisant of the fact that if she says no, she may well leave the business. In Australia if it matters.