Employee leaves having taken too much holiday

Employee leaves having taken too much holiday

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Hello, I'm new to all of this and was just looking for a bit of reassurance. I have a client who had an employee leave 3rd Feb with immediate effect having taken too much holiday. The payroll is prepared for the end of every month, so January pay had already been finalised. The contract of employment clearly states (and this is not verbatim) that in the event of an employee leaving having taken more holiday than entitled, this will be deducted from final pay. The problem being, final pay will not fully cover the holiday owed back to the employer. Having looked at various sources to find a solution, am I correct in thinking that if some arrangement cannot be made with the employee then the only alternative would be for the employer make a claim through the small claims court if they felt this was a necessary course of action? Any advice would be appreciated.

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By johngroganjga
13th Feb 2015 12:47

if the employment contract is silent on what happens to any excess of recoverable holiday pay over final pay, I would guess (but I am no lawyer) that the employer has no right to recover it.

But to get a proper answer on that your client will, of course, need to get advice from an employment lawyer, but preferably not the one who drafted the contracts of employment.

If your client has no right of recovery there is of course nothing to stop him asking the employee to refund the excess voluntarily. You never know.

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RLI
By lionofludesch
13th Feb 2015 12:54

Agree with John that I don't think your client can recover it unless there's something in the contract to say otherwise.  It seems to say deduct from final pay but there's no provision to cover a situation where the final pay is insufficient.

As ever, the questions of "how much is at stake?" and "is it worthwhile to pursue?" are relevant.

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By carnmores
14th Feb 2015 13:49

you cant deduct without permission
Unless the sums are astronomic don't bother with lawyers, I suspect that is why you are asking here. As stated just ask them and if no write off, it sounds as if its partly your fault

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