Holiday Pay & Entitlement – Employment Law
Holiday entitlement and holiday pay
Legally you are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday each year as a minimum. This is equal to 28 days including Bank Holidays. Holidays must be taken when it is convenient for your employer; there is no legal right to take holiday when you choose. You are not entitled to make the decision to take payment in lieu of holiday unless your employment has been terminated. Upon termination of your employment, you are entitled to any untaken holiday for that year. Alternatively, your employer may state that any remaining annual leave that you have will be taken during your notice period if you are working one or placed on garden leave.
Following publication by The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) of their decision in Lock v British Gas, it was confirmed that holiday pay should be calculated to include all elements of normal remuneration for certain workers. Previously, some workers who relied on commission and overtime would lose a significant amount of money when taking annual leave that they are entitled to. Employers now have to take into consideration regular overtime and commission payments when calculating holiday pay. Holiday pay should include the following:
As a part-time worker, you are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year. However, this is calculated on a pro-rata basis. For example, for a 3-day working week, your holiday days would be calculated by multiplying 5.6 by 3. This means you would have 16.8 days of paid annual leave.
This depends on what is laid out in your contract of employment. But the general rule is that you need to give twice the amount of notice for the amount of holiday you wish to take. For example, 2 weeks of notice is required for 1 week of annual leave, or 2 days of notice to take 1 day off.
Your employer can refuse your holiday request as long as they provide the same amount of notice as the amount of annual leave that you have requested. For example, if you have requested for 2 weeks of annual leave, your employer must also provide 2 weeks notice for refusing the request.
Whilst employers are entitled to refuse a holiday request at certain times, they cannot refuse to let you take your minimum entitlement for the year. Employers are also entitled to tell their staff to take leave on certain days of the year. Typically bank holidays and the Christmas period.
Your employer can choose to include Bank Holidays in your 28 days paid holiday (assuming you work 5 days a week). There is no statutory right for an employee to be paid for public holidays on top of the 28-day entitlement. However, it is dependent on the terms of the contract of employment which may state something different.
If you are looking for a No Win Fee Employment Law Solicitor to represent you at an employment tribunal, we need to assess the merits of your potential claim which we are normally happy to do free of charge.
Whether you can carry unused holiday into the next year depends on your contract. If there is no specifics written, you can agree with your employer to roll over up to 8 days of unused holiday. However, this is at the employer’s discretion.
If you were unable to take your annual leave due to sickness, your employer must allow you to roll over up to 20 days maximum from your 28-day entitlement.
An employer is entitled to cancel your pre-booked holiday so long as they give notice of the same length of the leave. This means that if you have booked 2 weeks off, the employer must give at least 2 weeks notice to cancel. However, if cancelling your holiday means that you cannot use your full entitlement of annual leave for the year, then the employer cannot cancel the holiday.
You may have a case for constructive dismissal if your employer cancels your pre-booked lave without having a clear business reason and without giving compensation, particularly if you suffer a financial loss due to a holiday you have already booked. You would be required to prove that the cancellation of your holiday has severed your trust and confidence with your employer.
The Deduction from Wages (Limitation) Regulations 2014 has been introduced by the government which;
(1) limit all unlawful deductions claims to the period of two years before the date that a claim form is lodged; and,
(2) explicitly state that the right to paid holiday is not incorporated as a term in employment contracts
This is to prevent employees from bringing long-term claims for outstanding holiday pay to the civil or tribunal courts.
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