Love it or hate it ….it’s coming, the Royal Wedding!
Time off to celebrate or not!
The Government has announced that there will be a special additional bank holiday on Friday 29 April 2011 to celebrate the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Your employees may be celebrating an additional day off but are they entitled to it?
The Working Time Regulations state that all workers are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks’ (28 days’) paid holiday (pro-rata for part time), which can include the bank holidays however, there is no statutory right for employees either to take bank or public holidays off work or to receive pay for bank or public holidays if they do not work them.
This means that to establish whether a worker is entitled to April 29th off you need to look at the wording in their contract.
Example phrase that indicates entitlement
(where it is non-specific about the days or number of public holidays)
You are entitled to [] days annual leave plus bank and public holidays.
Example phrases that indicate no entitlement
(where it specifies the day or numbers of public holidays)
You are entitled to [] days annual leave plus 8 statutory public and bank holidays.
You are entitled to [] days annual leave including statutory public and bank holidays.
This is an area you need to be clear on as we’re all set for another additional public holiday in 2012 when the Queen celebrates her Diamond Jubilee on Tuesday 5 June 2012 with the late May Bank Holiday being moved to 4 June 2012 potentially creating a 4 day break.
What Cost Morale?
The Department for Business estimate the cost to British Business of £2.9 billion however if your staff are not entitled to the additional holiday you may want to consider your workers’ morale as many of them will be expecting time off!
For those that have to work could you organize an event to mark the occasion; wedding cake for everyone, a quiz with prizes or maybe access to a television showing the momentous occasion!
Holidays and Frequently Asked Questions
Holidays is a hot topic which we provide a lot of advice on so here is a list of frequently asked questions on the subject.
What is the statutory holiday entitlement?
The Working Time Regulations state that workers should receive 5.6 weeks’ (28 days’) holiday pay. It does not specify that these should be bank holidays however many employers include the normal 8 bank holidays within this entitlement.
A part time worker only works Tuesday and Wednesday - does he get any bank holidays?
If the contract specifies that he is entitled to bank holidays then he would receive a pro rata entitlement. This can be calculated by finding out his full time equivalent: divide his weekly worked hours by that of a full time person. In this example 16 hours / 40 hours = 0.4. You then multiply his full time equivalent figure by the bank holiday entitlement of a full time person. In this example 0.4 x 8 = 3.2 days annual entitlement.
If your employee works different hours per day then work out their holiday entitlement in hours using the above formula or call Sian King on 01865 261145 – it’s complicated!
If an employee has been off sick do I still need to pay their accrued holiday entitlement?
Yes.
Does an employee on maternity, paternity or adoption leave still accrue their full holiday entitlement?
Yes.
If an employee has been on maternity leave over the end of the holiday year do I need to carry over their holiday entitlement?
Usually yes, however where you don’t carry over holidays and the contract specifies this, have a conversation with the employee (preferably confirmed in writing) prior to them going on maternity to give them the opportunity to take the holiday. If they opt not to and are aware that it will not carry over then they will lose the holiday entitlement.
We are really busy and a key staff member is on holiday – can I cancel this?
Yes legally you can by giving notice equivalent to the length of time booked off however this should probably be a last resort as your employee may be unhappy and therefore not as productive!
Do I need to include shift payments in holiday pay when calculating a previous 12 weeks average?
Yes and overtime premiums. This is calculated by taking the 12 weeks’ earnings including shift and overtime premiums and dividing it by the number of hours worked to give you an hourly rate which includes the premiums.