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I'm one of a team of five women, three of whom have young families, and one of whom is pregnant. While I wish them well on a personal level, I'm feeling a little peeved that their needs seem to take precedence over my own in terms of holiday planning, shortened days and unofficial time off to deal with sick kids or sick nannies. Should I be penalised because I don't have children of my own?

The question you need to ask yourself whether you are being genuinely being disadvantaged or whether you're just feeling irked? I don't think it's a good idea to take a stand against a person as they might have genuine reasons and therefore their priorities should be taken into consideration. You need to remember that at some point in life most people have needs that should be considered. You could find yourself in a situation where you need time off or to take holidays on certain dates and others have to support you. These women might not want to take holidays at those times, but they've got a priority that means they have to.

So if it really is an issue and you can't go on holiday when you want to because someone else is always getting first call, then it is fair to raise this, but otherwise it's just silly. You may have different considerations and want to go when it's cheaper, which may be just as inconvenient for the company. When you get down to it, and say to people, "If you feel like that about it, we will put it on a rota system or you can take those weeks," I've found that it's not that they wanted that time in particular, but were fed up with other people getting in first. Judge it on genuine issues and not just feelings of envy. Everybody has reasons why they want to take holidays at certain times. Stop thinking in terms of children: everybody has their own priorities, whether they be a skiing holiday or to look after a sick parent.

Deborah Meaden is author of Common Sense Rules (Random House, £7.99). Read more advice from Deborah Meaden.

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