Can the businessman forbid enjoying vacations on certain dates?

The TSJ notes that, as a general rule, the dates of holiday enjoyment must be determined by individual agreement, always with respect to what is agreed in the collective agreement.

The legal representation of the workers sends the company the work calendar for 2018 for approval. The company responds that the calendar must be modified because during the period between July 15 and August 15, 3 people cannot be on vacation, but only one, since it is one of the periods of maximum activity of the company. The representation of the workers files a lawsuit requesting that the one contributed for validation to the company be established as a work calendar for 2018.

The TSJ Galicia, entering the merits of the matter, states that state regulations establish, as a basic criterion for determining the dates of enjoyment of the holidays, the individual agreement, but always within the framework that had been agreed by collective agreement, to which Forwards – where appropriate – for annual planning.

For its part, the collective agreement applicable in the company establishes the need to collectively agree on the annual planning of vacations for all personnel. This excludes the possibility that, unilaterally, the employer can exclude certain periods for rest.

Based on these considerations, the TSJ Galicia does not consider it acceptable that the company can unilaterally deny the enjoyment of part of the holiday period to a group of three workers, in the period between July 16 and August 15, 2018, arguing exclusively that only one worker can enjoy vacations during that period, as it is one of the periods of maximum activity of the company. Even if the criterion of the months of July and August are those with more workload, this does not imply the impossibility of enjoying three workers in the two fortnight indicated, when they can be enjoyed in this way in the first half of July and in the second half of August.

In addition, it is proven that in the months of July and August the workforce of drivers with temporary staff is reinforced. This idea is reinforced by the fact that, since 2009, three workers were always granted the second vacation period between the second half of July and the first of August, without any evidence that circumstances have changed or that there is now a higher burden of work.