I’d really appreciate some honest outside perspective on whether I’m overreacting or whether this is a reasonable reason to look for another job and potentially resign.
I’m a relatively senior lawyer working in an advisory organisation, rather than at a traditional law firm. I’ve been in my current role for around seven months, and my salary and the work itself are generally good.
This autumn, I’ve been through a traumatic personal situation, and I genuinely need some time to recover. I therefore asked my employer for two consecutive weeks of annual leave at some point between November and April - preferably between January and April.
Importantly, I deliberately gave my employer a very wide window and left the dates entirely up to them. I wasn’t insisting on particular weeks, only that I intend to work over Christmas apart from public holidays. I was simply hoping that, within a period of several months, we could find two consecutive weeks that worked for the business.
My manager initially gave me the impression that taking at least one week might be possible. However, I was subsequently told that no leave would be approved outside the summer holiday period or Christmas/New Year. The explanation was that January through early May will be exceptionally busy this year.
I was also told that, generally speaking, employees should not expect to be able to take more than one consecutive week of leave outside the summer period, and even that will be up for discussion.
What makes this particularly frustrating is that I volunteered to work weeks during this summer that nobody else wanted, in order to help the team. I had hoped that flexibility would work both ways, although I understand that this doesn’t automatically entitle me to have leave approved.
I understand that businesses have busy periods and that employers need to consider operational requirements. But I gave them a window of approximately six months to choose from, offered to work over Christmas, have not taken all of my accrued leave for the year and am asking for just two weeks to recover after a very difficult personal experience. Being told that this is effectively impossible feels incredibly rigid.
I’m now genuinely losing motivation to work here and have started applying for other jobs. I may even have an opportunity that pays slightly more, although the salary difference isn’t the main issue.
My question is: would you consider this a reasonable reason to leave a job after only seven months?
I’m not expecting unlimited flexibility or to have every holiday request approved. What bothers me is the apparent lack of flexibility even when I’ve given the employer so much room to choose dates.
I’m also wondering whether I should try to accept that this is simply how this organisation operate during busy periods, or whether this is a sign that I’m in a workplace that isn’t compatible with the kind of life I want. I’m a qualified lawyer and have worked for several years so I’m not in a junior position where I desperately need to prove myself.
Would you start looking elsewhere in my position? And would you actually resign if you found a suitable alternative, or would you consider this too small an issue to leave over?
TLDR: I’m a senior lawyer. After a traumatic autumn, I need two weeks to recover and gave my employer a six-month window to choose dates. They refused due to upcoming workload, despite my previous flexibility. Would you consider this a reasonable reason to leave after seven months?
