Extra bank holidays

Extra bank holidays

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The current minimum holiday entitlement is 28 days which include bank holidays, given a minimum of 20 days holiday plus bank holidays, this year and next year we have an extra bank holiday. My question is does the legal minimum increase in these circumstances or would you need to use a days holiday (out of your 20) if the company decided to not give you the extra day on top and to close its doors for the jubilee?

As I understand this if the 28 minimum is not increased to 29 then it can close on the extra day and not give another holiday.

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By pipper01
01st Nov 2011 23:53

Holidays

I would say if the employee contract says 20 days plus bank holidays then you have to pay 29 days.

If the contract says 20 days plus the following specified dates (only standard bank holidays) then you only pay 28 days.

Or you could do as per a company I know (not a client) and get everyone to turn up on the extra day, then lay them all off with no pay as there's no work.

Pip

 

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Teignmouth
By Paul Scholes
01st Nov 2011 23:42

28 days

Hi - the 28 days (or more precisely 5.6 weeks) is not actually linked to bank holidays and so an employer can chose whether to include bank holidays or not.  Your basic paid entitlement therefore is 28 days and, as I think happened with the royal thing this year, any extra days are down to negotiation.

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By Jimess
02nd Nov 2011 09:59

I have just checked this out for myself.....

The advice I was given accords with pipper01's answer.  It depends what your contract says.  I am in the process of renewing employment contracts which I have been advised to specify holiday entitlement as " x days plus 8 days NORMAL statutory bank holidays" so any additional statutory holidays will come out of their annual holidays.  Don't forget also this will be pro-rata for part-time employees and the pro rata calculation includes the bank holiday entitlement within the contract.

The 5.6 weeks basic entitlement is the minimum statutory entitlement so you need to make sure your contract specifies how you want your holiday entitlement to work.

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By Liverpool Accountant Marketing Bod
04th Nov 2011 11:39

"Normal" bank holidays

Sssshhhh, quiet. Don't let on about this!

In my workplace we got the extra bank holiday automatically this year. Nobody thought about any of this, it never came up. We just got the extra day, although I am amazed now that I think about it, given the billing implications.

I just got my contract out and it says I am entitled to 20 days "plus the normal bank holidays". I guess if it came to a challenge I would say that this year it was normal to have an extra day for the wedding, and next year it will be normal to have an extra day for the jubilee...

I look forward to a court case trying to determine what normal is!

 

 

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By tonyarm
04th Nov 2011 12:18

Just specify holidays

My contracts of employment just state the maximum entitlement in days (which can vary but not less than 28) and that this includes bank holidays.

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By Mark Kershaw
04th Nov 2011 14:58

The statutory entitlement for a full time employee is a minimum of 28 days per year, but there is no statutory entitlement to bank holidays. So it is possible that an employee could be made to work every bank holiday if the contract only refers to 28 days leave.

Ultimately, it will depend on the terms of the individual employment contract but if, for example, this specifies say 20 days plus 8 bank holidays, then the employer would be entitled to insist that employees work that extra bank holiday. This is what many companies did over the royal wedding.

In practice, I suspect many employers will give this extra day to their staff, regardless of the contractual terms, as it could impact on employee relations by making them work. In fact, it could be an opportunity for the employer to demonstrate his 'generosity' by giving his employees an extra day off for free.

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By puzzel
07th Nov 2011 13:01

Well it depends

 

Try the following link:

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1540

But think about Will's wedding, that was not an offical bank holiday but wise for employers to allow employees to have the time off to join in the celebrations.

As for when it is, read the following link:

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_183806

Will it be an official bank hoiliday?

In the case of will's wedding, some worked, some took a day from their annual entitlement and others just took the time off and enjoyed it.

It looks like it will be a long weekend.

 

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By ringi
08th Nov 2011 10:52

How many hours of work will be lost with staff complaining?

Let’s look at this another way;  Do you wish to have unhappy staff that believe you are being unfair to them, spending all their time complaining about you?

Unless your staff expect to work bank holidays without additional pay, they are likely to feel they have a right to all bank holidays regardless of what the law or their contract says.

So if you did not set the explication correctly at time of employment, you may have to just except that the government has given way some of your profit.

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By Simon Newsam
08th Nov 2011 10:53

The devil is in the detail of the contract

It does depend on the contract wording as Jimess says. A client of mine, leading employment lawyer Bethan Darwin, explained this very neatly in a column before the royal wedding last spring in the Western Mail newspaper. You can read it online here:

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business-in-wales/columnists/bethan-darwin/...

Hope this helps.

 

 

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Pic01
By zxcvb
08th Nov 2011 12:11

Employer's view

We employ office and workshop staff.

Our employee's contracts of employment state their holiday entitlement as 28 days including bank holidays.  We closed on the extra bank holiday and deducted the day from employee's holiday entitlement., just as we do when we shut for Xmas.  One employee asked to take the day as unpaid leave, which we agreed to.

 

Told them that any complaints should be directed to HM!

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By puzzel
09th Nov 2011 21:17

Final thought

OK I understand what people may say about 20 days + bank holidays, or 28 days a year including bank holidays.

Lets go back in time when many did not have the equal rights to holiday entitlement, things began to change. Over the last few years the employee holiday entitlement has increased whereby it is equal to 28 days per year, regardless of weather the contract of employment states 20 days + bank holidays or 28 days including bank holidays.

ACAS and the working time regulations act states that an employee is entitled to a multiple of 5.6 in holidays to there working time.

So if an employee works 5 days a week, then they are allowed 28 days holiday pay per year, and would naturally include the standard 8 days of bank holidays. This is obviously based on the hours they work, so if a part time or casual worker is requesting holiday pay, it is based over an average of what they work multiplied by 5.6 over a given period of time.

The additional bank holiday for the Queens Jubilee has to be determined if it is an official bank holiday or not.

If it is an official bank holiday, then those with a contact of 20 day + bank holidays ( normally 8) will benefit, however those with 28 days including bank holidays will lose an extra days holiday.

Until the laws from the working times regulations and ACAS information are amended, then the Queens Jubilee celebration is mealy a day of celebration (a bit like St George's day) and not an extra paid bank holiday

 

 

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