Not able to take holidays

Is she being unreasonable? Is this the same in all jobs? If so, it kind of defeats the purpose of taking a holiday if you still have to do the work anyway.
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If you are self employed, it can be pretty much like that.
Is the person an employee? - can't they get someone else to write the article(s) one month? Even Jeremy Clarkson does this from time to time.
 
She is entitled to holidays and not to have to work double time beforehand in order to get those holidays. The employer can ask her to take holidays at a different time if the days she has chosen don't suit but cannot just deny her holidays. For example, if the publication comes out at the end of a month, it would probably make sense to take off the last week and first week of a month so she has 3 weeks to do each month's copy.

Are other employees in the same position? I'd be concerned for your friend if she is working significantly slower than other employees - that could end up being a performance issue. But, if it an ordinary employee can't possibly finish 10-12 pages of copy in a month and also have room to take holidays, then it's the employer's job to do something about that. It sounds like the job is generally too demanding (if, as you say, she can only barely get the copy done, let alone the other duties) and, if so, she should raise that as an issue. Note that, as she is only there 6 months, she is in a precarious position vis a vis dismissal. It may be better for her to wait a year before being too adamant about her concerns (unfair, I know). Are other employees having the same problem? Do they take holidays?

I'd be interested to hear if the employer is just saying "tough luck" or if they are querying why she can't get the work finished in a shorter time (and maybe even offering to help her organise her workload!)

Sprite
 
I was in a similar position. I was looking to take time off for my wedding. Luckily I had booked it around our qtr end period but when I returned I had 3 wks work to catch up and the qtr end process to complete. The company believed deadlines were deadlines, yet if any of the other team members were on holidays, muggins here had to cover their work as well as the bosses (if the hols crossed). The only option I had was to leave. Not ideal as location was great, I had given 5 yrs to company and colleagues were some of the best I'd worked with but in the end the pressure and stress became too much and my health began to deteriorate. I am much happier now but still have similar deadlines, thankfully it hasnt hit the same pressure levels as previously.
 
There was an post in this forum in recent weeks pointing out that employees have a legal right to take 2 weeks leave in one lump per annum, so she shouldn't have to restrict herself to 1 week chunks. Maybe she is dropping herself in it by handing up more than the month's quota - if she can prepare extra material, she should keep it to herself and hand it up for her holiday month.
 
Are there other employees in the same position as your friend? If so, do they manage to do the same amount of copy, day-to-day tasks AND take holidays?

Without knowing the details - is she the only one struggling - maybe she is simply not up to the job? Is there any time management course she could do e.g. for the day-to-day tasks etc? What does she actually struggle with - is it creative writing, technical etc? Anything she can do to upskill?

As others have said, if she produces more than 10-12 she should hold these over for future months (if possible), but this is not a long term solution.
 
She should apply for holidays, and take them. If she was sick, and dept. of health inspector seen she had not taken holidays, the employer would be responsible.

As for having work done before taking them, thats unrealistic.
 
If others in the same job can get the work done and take their holidays then she may not be up to the job but she is still entitled to her holidays. While most jobs have an element of catching up when you get back/ working ahead before you go it is unreasonable to expect an employee to cover their entire work-load during holiday times.
 
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