Although employees have an entitlement to annual leave, an employer has the right to refuse a holiday request to one of their employees. Some company policies have certain ways of dealing with these types of situations, and some countries have laws in place regarding employees' requests.
Some laws require employers to give ‘counter notice’, which is when an employer has to give the employee the same amount of notice as the length of annual leave they requested. For example, if an employee has requested a week off, you have to give them a week’s notice of cancellation of the holiday request.
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Refusing a holiday request can be done in a few different ways, but the most common way is through e-mail. To be even more formal, a letter regarding the refusal is another option.
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The employee should be given a full, valid explanation as to why they haven’t been approved their holiday request. Employees have rights and entitlements, so ensure your refusal is valid before you proceed with it.