Statutory Holiday. Contract says BH pay discretionary?
Discussion
So I've handed my notice to leave mid December (19th). Company are working my holiday entitlement out as 2 days left of my 20 when I've taken only 17 so far. Contract says partial days should be rounded up so as the holiday runs 1st Jan to 31st Dec I make it 3 days left.
Also contract says Bank Holiday pay is discretionary? does this wording in a contract mean I signed away my right to 5.6 weeks (28 days) statutory paid holiday. If it hasn't, should they be including bank holidays when calculating what holiday I am owed pro-rata.
Basically is pro rata holiday worked out at 20 days or 28 days. The .gov website holiday entitlement calculator comes back with 27.1 day entitlement for me on my leaving date.
Am I getting something wrong? Should it be 2 days, 3 days or the 5 days that the .gov calculator indicates.
Any guidance much appreciated. Thank you
Also contract says Bank Holiday pay is discretionary? does this wording in a contract mean I signed away my right to 5.6 weeks (28 days) statutory paid holiday. If it hasn't, should they be including bank holidays when calculating what holiday I am owed pro-rata.
Basically is pro rata holiday worked out at 20 days or 28 days. The .gov website holiday entitlement calculator comes back with 27.1 day entitlement for me on my leaving date.
Am I getting something wrong? Should it be 2 days, 3 days or the 5 days that the .gov calculator indicates.
Any guidance much appreciated. Thank you
Do you normally have bank holidays off or do you have to work some of them?
What (if any) BHs have you worked this year?
Do you normally work a 5 day week?
If you've had 17 days off, plus 6 bank holidays up to your leaving date that makes 23. Your entitlement from January to 19th Dec is 27.1 days which can't be rounded down. So I believe as a minimum you're entitled to 4.1 days pay or 4.5/5 days off.
Perhaps meet with HR/your line manager to go through the calculation on the Gov.uk website. They shouldn't be trying to argue with that!
What (if any) BHs have you worked this year?
Do you normally work a 5 day week?
If you've had 17 days off, plus 6 bank holidays up to your leaving date that makes 23. Your entitlement from January to 19th Dec is 27.1 days which can't be rounded down. So I believe as a minimum you're entitled to 4.1 days pay or 4.5/5 days off.
Perhaps meet with HR/your line manager to go through the calculation on the Gov.uk website. They shouldn't be trying to argue with that!
Edited by petrolbloke on Friday 23 November 10:27
Statutory holiday entitlement in the UK is 5.6 weeks. If you work a standard 5 day week, this equates to 28 days. If you're unfortunate enough to work six days a week, you're still capped at 28 days, which seems pretty bloody unfair, as you've then got to take more of those holiday days to actually have a week off!
Most office-type employers will include Bank Holidays in the 28 days. Most B2C services-type employers (retail, gyms, hotels etc) usually won't, bar Christmas Day.
If your employer doesn't give you the 8 BH days, then they have to give you those days elsewhere. They can't give you less than 28 days unless you work part time.
Excuse the obvious question, but why on earth did you hand your notice in to leave on the 19th?? Surely it would've been better to make it the 31st, then take the last three days as holiday, so they're paying you for Christmas?
Most office-type employers will include Bank Holidays in the 28 days. Most B2C services-type employers (retail, gyms, hotels etc) usually won't, bar Christmas Day.
If your employer doesn't give you the 8 BH days, then they have to give you those days elsewhere. They can't give you less than 28 days unless you work part time.
Excuse the obvious question, but why on earth did you hand your notice in to leave on the 19th?? Surely it would've been better to make it the 31st, then take the last three days as holiday, so they're paying you for Christmas?
Thanks for the replies that pretty much confirm what I’ve been thinking. Straight forward 5 day week with bank holidays off.
Yes totally agree about the leaving in the 19th sort of threw my toys out of the pram a bit. It’s been building up for a while and the original plan was to leave at the end of the year.
Yes totally agree about the leaving in the 19th sort of threw my toys out of the pram a bit. It’s been building up for a while and the original plan was to leave at the end of the year.
Well after some discussion yesterday on how I felt the wording "rounded up" in my contract didn't equate to "Well I like to allow the full days and then pay odd bit in your final wage" the company came back with 3 days. I said yep that's a start can you now look at my statutory entitlement...... They just looked puzzled.
Hoonabator said:
Well after some discussion yesterday on how I felt the wording "rounded up" in my contract didn't equate to "Well I like to allow the full days and then pay odd bit in your final wage" the company came back with 3 days. I said yep that's a start can you now look at my statutory entitlement...... They just looked puzzled.
If they're giving you twenty days discretionary holiday plus bank holidays, then they're meeting their statutory requirements. You've chosen to leave just before Christmas day and Boxing day, so I don't think you'll have a leg to stand on if you're trying to claim they should still give them to you early.Kermit power said:
If they're giving you twenty days discretionary holiday plus bank holidays, then they're meeting their statutory requirements. You've chosen to leave just before Christmas day and Boxing day, so I don't think you'll have a leg to stand on if you're trying to claim they should still give them to you early.
It’s not giving them early it’s pro-rata/accrued statutory holiday. Everything I read indicates a company is obligated to give 28 days paid holiday per year and although there is no obligation to pay bank holidays companies tend to have the banks holidays as 8 of these 28 days. Hoonabator said:
It’s not giving them early it’s pro-rata/accrued statutory holiday. Everything I read indicates a company is obligated to give 28 days paid holiday per year and although there is no obligation to pay bank holidays companies tend to have the banks holidays as 8 of these 28 days.
Usually though you can't claim for them until after the dates have passed on which the Bank Holiday occurred. Leaving on the 19th means you haven't accrued the 25th and 26th as Bank Holidays Shakermaker said:
Hoonabator said:
It’s not giving them early it’s pro-rata/accrued statutory holiday. Everything I read indicates a company is obligated to give 28 days paid holiday per year and although there is no obligation to pay bank holidays companies tend to have the banks holidays as 8 of these 28 days.
Usually though you can't claim for them until after the dates have passed on which the Bank Holiday occurred. Leaving on the 19th means you haven't accrued the 25th and 26th as Bank Holidays As I understand it, employers do have the right to insist that you take Bank Holidays as part of your holiday entitlement, so if you've chosen not to be employed by them when the BH happens, you lose out.
It would be very difficult for an employer to make them discretionary. Imagine a scenario where a supermarket shelf-stacker announces to their manager that they want to work on Christmas Day and take their holiday at a different time. What does the supermarket do? Open up the whole store for one person to stack shelves, or say "sorry, you have to take Christmas Day as one of your statutory holiday entitlement days"?
The interesting thing is non of the online help pages on the .gov site or citizens advice site actually say anything other than your statutory right is 28 days paid holiday. The fact that some/most employers include the 8 bank holidays as part of these days doesn’t seem to matter as companies are allowed to dictate when holiday is taken. As the .gov site comes up with 27.1 day have been accrued when leaving on 19th. I can’t see how it can be anything else.
Hoonabator said:
The interesting thing is non of the online help pages on the .gov site or citizens advice site actually say anything other than your statutory right is 28 days paid holiday. The fact that some/most employers include the 8 bank holidays as part of these days doesn’t seem to matter as companies are allowed to dictate when holiday is taken. As the .gov site comes up with 27.1 day have been accrued when leaving on 19th. I can’t see how it can be anything else.
Personally from what your opening post says, I think you are owed 3 days, if going by your contract which states "partial days should be rounded up" and that you are leaving 2/3 of the way into the month. The situation regarding bank holidays will be muddled by the fact that you are leaving just before two Bank Holidays rather than just after them, but two which happen to fall almost at the very end of your company's holiday year. Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff