Holiday Entitlement

Every worker is entitled to at least 5.6 weeks' paid annual leave (28 days for someone working five days a week).  Employers reserve the right to control when leave is taken as well as whether it includes bank holidays. There is a minimum right to paid holiday, though employers may offer more than this if they wish. 

Holidays can be built up as soon as an employee starts work, and every worker is entitled to their normal pay on the days they are absent. When an employee leaves their job, they are still entitled to any holiday they haven't already taken, and they should continue to receive holiday pay throughout ordinary and additional maternity/ /paternity/adoption leave. Part-time workers are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata.

In order to qualify for the right to annual leave you need to be classed as a worker. If you are self-employed, you have no statutory right to paid annual leave.

As soon as workers begin their employment with you, they immediately start to build up or accrue holidays. Regardless of their entitlement, they must take a minimum of four weeks' holiday a year, but whether or not they can carry over any untaken days into the next year is up to you the employer to decide. 

General
How many holidays employees get should be outlined in their contracts of employment. Legally, they are entitled to 5.6 weeks, but this can be affected by working hours or working patterns.   The easiest way to calculate employees' leave allowance is to multiply the number of days they work each week by 5.6. So, if they work five days a week, they would be entitled to 28 days annual leave a year. This may or may not include bank holidays. 

Part-time workers
If you employ part-time workers, they are still entitled to the statutory minimum leave entitlement. So if they work two days per week they are entitled to 11.2 days' annual leave a year, (2 x 5.6). Part time employees should not be treated differently from full-timers. If you the employer give extra time off to your full-time workers, part-timers should also be given extra time-off. 

Temporary agency workers
Temporary agency workers are also entitled to 5.6 week's holiday or 5.6 of their normal working week. Recruitment agencies will be responsible for giving their workers these holidays, but it is always worth checking up on this for the sake of your employees. 

Casual or irregular working patterns
For employees who work casual or irregular hours it is probably easier to calculate the holiday entitlement that accrues as hours are worked, 5.6 weeks being the equivalent of 12.07 % of the hours worked. 12.07 is worked out by dividing 5.6 weeks holiday by 46.4 weeks (52 weeks in a year, minus 5.6 weeks holiday) and multiplying this figure by 100 to get the percentage. The reason the 5.6 weeks is excluded from the calculation is because your workers would not be working on those days and therefore not accruing leave. 

So, if an employee works 10 hours they would be entitled to 72.6 minutes' paid holiday (12.07 % x 10 hours = 1.21 hours = 72.6 minutes) and just over seven minutes for each hour worked.

Shift workers
Calculating leave for shift workers is best done by using the average number of shifts worked over a 17 week period. So, if employees normally work 12 hours a day, four days on followed by four days off, then the average working week would be three-and-a-half 12 hour shifts per week. To work out holiday entitlement then, multiply 5.6 by 3.5, to get 19.6 12 hour shifts worth of annual leave.  For other shift patterns, it may be easiest to calculate according to the established pattern of repeat. 

Contractual holiday rights
Employers, can give their employees more than the minimum 5.6 weeks' leave as part of the terms of their employment. This should always be made clear in an employee's contract of employment. Under these circumstances, employers make their own rules, though they are not allowed to give their employees less than the legal minimum overall.

If a contract does not state any additional holiday, then workers are not entitled to additional holidays, paid or unpaid. 

Leave years
A holiday year, otherwise known as a 'leave' year, is the period set by the employer, when they expect their workers to take their annual leave. Employers should try to specify when this holiday year starts in each employee's contract of employment, for example, state that the holiday year for everyone in their organization is 1st January to the 31 December. If this is not included in the employee's contract of employment, then the holiday year for each worker will start on 1 October 1998, if they started work before this time, and the date they started work if they started after this time. 

If an employee leaves part way through a leave year, then they will still be entitled to a proportion of their leave depending on how much of the year is left. So they might be entitled to a third of their leave if there was a third of their leave year remaining. At the start of each new leave year, the amount of leave that each employee is entitled to is reset.

Accruals
Accrual systems are used by some employers in order to improve staff retention. What this means is that the longer an employee works for the company, the more holidays they get. They effectively build this holiday entitlement up as they work, so that for every month they work, they become entitled to one twelfth of their annual entitlement. Accrual normally continues during statutory absences, like maternity leave. 

Carrying over holidays
If employees do not take all of their statutory entitlement during the holiday year, they do not have an automatic right to carry leave over into the next holiday year. That said, some employers do allow their workers to do this, or they remind them that they need to take their holidays as the year draws to a close. Every employee must take at least four weeks holiday a year, so any holiday that is carried over only applies to untaken holidays after the four weeks. This may include new days that have been accrued. It is always best to specify the rules on carrying over holiday entitlement somewhere in the employees' contracts of employment. 

Public and bank holidays
There are eight bank and public holidays in England and Wales, nine in Scotland and ten in Northern Ireland. Workers do not have any statutory right to paid leave on these days. If employers do give paid leave, it may count towards employees' minimum holiday entitlement. Workers are also not entitled to an enhanced pay rate on these days. Employers who do give either extra holidays to account for these days or pay enhanced rates should always state these terms in an employee's contract of employment. 

Where part time workers are given time off on bank and public holidays, this leave should be given pro rata, even if the days do not fall on their usual work days.  Be aware that if employers do not give their employee the minimum amount of paid holidays they are entitled to, they make complain to an Employment Tribunal.

Bank and Public Holidays, and British Summer Time

In the UK, bank holidays are public holidays, when banks and other businesses are closed. In Britain, the clocks go forward and back once a year for British Summer Time, which also affects the working hours of your employees.

The bank holiday dates for England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in 2010 and 2011 are listed below. Normally when bank holidays fall on either a Saturday or a Sunday the next working day is treated as a bank holiday.

England and Wales

There are eight bank/public holidays in England and Wales:

Holiday

2011

New Year's Day

3 January (carried over)

Good Friday

22 April

Easter Monday

25 April

First May Bank Holiday

2 May

Spring Bank Holiday

20 May

Summer Bank Holiday

29 August

Christmas Day

26 December (carried over)

Boxing Day

27 December (carried over)

Special bank holidays

Sometimes, to celebrate special occasions, the dates of bank holidays can be changed and/or new holidays declared. In recent years, this has been done to celebrate the Royal Wedding in 1981, the Millennium holiday in 1999, and the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002. 

Employees do not have the right to time off on bank or public holidays, but most employers will give them the day off by either including the days in their overall statutory holiday entitlement or adding them on to their statutory holiday entitlement. Normally any extra pay or time off will be specified in employees' contracts of employment.

British Summer Time
Summer in Britain, otherwise known as BST (British Summer Time) begins the last Sunday in March and ends on the last Sunday in October at 1am. So in spring the clocks go forward and we lose an hour, and in autumn the clocks go back and we gain an hour. This will obviously affect when employees get into work.

Taking holidays
When employees take their holidays, they need to ensure they give their employer the right amount of notice, and the employer needs to make sure they get paid correctly. 

If employees want to take holidays
Employees looking to take holidays need to give their employer notice in advance. This notice should be at least twice as long as the amount of holiday they want to take. So any employees looking to take a week's holiday should give at least 2 week's notice. 

An employer can refuse to give their employees permission to take their holidays at that time as long as they give them notice which is at least as long as the holiday requested. So if an employee has asked for a week's holiday, an employer can refuse to give permission up to a week before.  Contracts of employment may set out slightly different rules about when workers can take their holidays. This is fine as long as you do not prevent your employees from taking their holidays at all.

Employers wanting employees to take holidays
Employers are entitled to decide when some or all of their employees' holidays are taken. For example, they may require their employees to take their holidays to cover bank holidays, or may decide that they want the business to shut over Christmas and compel all of their employees to take their holidays then. These rules can be in the employees' contracts of employment or just standard company practice built up over a long period of time. 

Part-days
Annual holiday entitlement often includes part-days, especially for part-time, shift and casual workers. It is up to the employer how they treat these part-days. They cannot be rounded down, but employers can choose to round them up - although this is not imperative. Sometimes employers choose to give their employees a full day's leave but only pay them for the part-day they are owed. Sometimes they are carried over into the next year and sometimes they are taken off shifts so employees come in late or leave work early. 

Holiday pay
Holiday pay should only ever be paid for the time when employees take their holidays. Employers cannot include an amount for holiday pay in their hourly rate, which is otherwise known as 'rolled-up holiday pay'. If this is still included in an employees' contracts of employment it should be renegotiated. 

Payment in lieu for holiday
Under government rules, no untaken leave is allowed to be exchanged for payment. On 1 April 2009, the minimum holiday entitlement rose to 5.6 weeks, or 28 days for a five day working week. 

Sickness and holidays
Employees do not automatically have the right to change their holidays into sick leave if they become ill during their holidays. It is up to the employer if they want to take a sympathetic approach.  A recent court ruling however did decide that if an employee is on long-term sick leave, they can take annual leave and sick leave at the same time.  

Leaving your job when you still have holidays left
Regardless of why an employee is leaving their job, they retain the right to take their statutory holiday entitlement that they have accrued over the time of their employment, up until the time they leave. Normally employers let their employees take this during their notice period, providing they give the right amount of notice and the employer agrees. Any untaken statutory entitlement must be paid to the employee. 

If an employee has taken more leave than they are entitled to, you the employer should avoid deducting their pay unless this has been pre-agreed. If an employee has been off work sick for the entire holiday year, they are not legally entitled to receive any holiday pay when they leave.

Entitlement to time off
Employees are entitled to unpaid, reasonable time off to take part in trade union activities, providing that the trade union they are a member of, is independent and recognized in their workplace by their employer. 

This includes ordinary trade union members as well as shop stewards and other workplace representatives. If workers are trade union officials of the recognized and independent trade union, then they will be entitled to reasonable paid time off, either to carry our their duties as an official or to receive training on carrying out these duties. The same applies for learning representatives.

Time off for trade union duties
Employees have a right to take a reasonable amount of time for trade union activities, providing employers recognize the trade union that they are a member of. Representatives may be entitled to reasonable time off to do their duties. Reasonable time off refers to time off from an employee's normal working hours. Normal working hours should be detailed in every employee's contract of employment. The actual definition of 'reasonable time off' is open to interpretation. But it remains important that any worker, whether they be trade union members, officials or learning representatives, are reasonable and flexible in asking for time off. For employers, it is important that they are also flexible and reasonable in handling their employees' requests. 

Obviously, employers will need to consider the nature of their business, the importance of health and safety in the workplace, the amount of time workers' have already had off for trade union activities, as well as the particular needs of the business at the time of the requests for time off when deciding whether or not it is reasonable to allow time off for trade union duties.

If a worker does need time off for trade union activities, they should also give employers as much notice as possible, alongside details of their reason for needing time off and how much time off they need.

The ACAS Code of Practice recommends that trade unions and individual employers have formal agreements about time off for trade union activities.

Trade union activities
Example trade union activities, for which your employees might require reasonable time off for, include:

• If they need to vote in a trade union election, such as those to elect shop stewards
• If they need to consult a trade union learning representative
• If they need to go to a meeting with a full-time trade union official away from the workplace - to discuss workplace issues
• If they need to go to workplace meetings to discuss and vote on negotiations with you the employer, (such as a pay increase or changes to the terms of their employment).

Since time off for these kinds of duties is not normally paid, meetings and activities more often than not, occur during breaks or lunchtime. If workers are appointed or elected to be trade union officials, they may need to go to trade union conferences and meetings including trade union policy-making committees. They do not have a statutory right to be paid during this time off, but some employers will pay them under certain circumstances. It is always best to detail rules on this in each employee's contract of employment.  Industrial action, which is also a trade union activity, is slightly different. Employees do have a right to time off for it. However, trade unions officials do have a statutory right to time off to take part in negotiations to avoid industrial action.

Jury service
Jury service is an important responsibility for all citizens, and more often than not requires citizens to take time off work.

If an employee is called for jury service, an employer must allow them time off work. Not allowing workers time off could make an employer liable for contempt of court. Employers must also ensure that workers are not treated unfairly. If an employee is up for jury service the employer must allow you time off for this. If they don't, they could be in contempt of court. An employee has the right not to be treated unfairly (for example, not being considered for promotion) because of their call-up. 

Payment
An employer does not have to pay an employee whilst on jury service. But an employee can claim for travel and food expenses and for loss of earnings from the court.

The employee needs to get their employer to fill out a Certificate of Loss of Earnings to claim for loss of earnings. There are limits on the amount that an employee can claim.

Deferring or not attending jury service
An employee can ask for their jury service to be deferred.  This can only do be done once and for no more than 12 months from the original date.  If an employee wants to be excluded from jury service altogether they should write to the Jury Central Summoning Bureau setting out their reasons why. However, unless they already served as a juror within the previous two years, their call-up is likely to be deferred. If an employee wants to be excluded from jury service in Northern Ireland you need to contact the Jury Central Summoning Bureau. 

Time off for dependents
In many cases employees have the right to take time off work to deal with an emergency involving someone who depends on them (sometimes called compassionate leave). An employee cannot be penalised by an employer for taking the time off, providing their reasons for taking it are genuine. 

An employers' right to time off for dependants
An 'employee', has the right to unpaid time off work to deal with emergencies involving a 'dependant' - this could be husband, wife, partner, child, parent, or anyone living in the household as a member of the family. A dependant may also be anyone who reasonably relies for help in an emergency, for example an elderly neighbour living alone who falls and breaks a leg and you are the closest on hand. Check your contract, written statement of employment or company handbook for details of the policy on time off for dependants and compassionate leave. 

What counts as an emergency?
An emergency could be any unexpected or sudden problem involving someone who depends on the employee's help or care. The right to time off for dependants could apply to a wide range of different circumstances but below are examples of some of the more common situations where an employee could be entitled to take time off: 

If a dependant falls ill
In this situation the illness or injury doesn't necessarily have to be serious or life-threatening, and may be mental or physical. The illness or injury could be a result of a deterioration of an existing condition. Employees can also take time off work to make longer term care arrangements for the dependant. 

If a dependant has been injured or assaulted
The right to take time off would also be available if a dependant is a victim of a mugging or similar incident, but has not been physically hurt but employees need to take time off work to comfort or help the victim. Employees can also take time off work to make longer term care arrangements for the dependant. 

Letting your employer know about taking time off
Employees can take time off regardless of their length of service. If an employee needs time off they should let their employer know as soon as they can, although they don't have to do it in writing or provide evidence. If they return to work before they have had the chance to contact their employer, they must still tell them why they were absent. 

How much time you are allowed to take off
An employee is allowed 'reasonable' time off to deal with the emergency and make any arrangements that are needed. There's no set amount of time allowed to deal with an unexpected event involving a dependant - it will vary depending on what the event is but for most cases one or two days should be sufficient to deal with the problem. 

There's no limit to the number of times an employee can take time off for dependants, provided it's for real emergencies. If an employer feels that the employee is taking more time off than they can cope with, they should warn them of this.

Dependants being paid for time off
An employer does not have to pay their employee for time off for dependants but they may choose to do so, this should be covered in the contract of employment. 

Compassionate leave
If employees need time off to cope with a situation that doesn't fall under the 'time off for dependants' right, they may have a right to time off under their contract of employment. Many employers will have a scheme for compassionate leave and details should be included in the contract or company handbook. If the situation is not covered by any scheme then employees can still ask their employer for the time off, although they do not have to agree to the request. 

Time off for public duties
An employee has the right to time off work for certain public duties and services. Their rights will vary depending on what work they do and what the duty or service is. 

Qualifying for public duties
An employee is allowed time off work for public duties if they are an 'employee' and one of the following:

• a magistrate, sometimes known as a justice of the peace
• a local councillor
• a school governor
• a member of a policy authority
• a member of any statutory tribunal (for example an Employment Tribunal)
• a member of the managing or governing body of an educational establishment
• a member of a school council or board in Scotland
• a member of the General Teaching Councils for England and Wales
• a member of the Environment Agency or the Scottish Environment Protection agency
• in England and Wales, a member of the prison independent monitoring boards or in Scotland, a member of the prison visiting committees
• a member of Scottish Water or a Water Customer Consultation Panel 

An employee does not have a right for time off work for public duties if they are any of the following:

• a temporary agency worker
• a member of the police service or armed forces
• employed on a gas or oil rig at sea
• a merchant seaman
• employed on a fishing vessel
• a civil servant whose public duties are connected to political activities restricted under the terms of your employment.

Reasonable time off
Employees are allowed reasonable time off to go to meetings or to carry out their duties. The time must be agreed with the employer beforehand and the employer can refuse the request if it is unreasonable. A specific amount of time off is not laid down in law. 

Whether time off is classed as 'reasonable' will depend on:

• what the duties are
• the time needed to carry them out
• the impact on the employer's business
• how much time off has already been taken for public duties or trade union duties.

Payment for time off
An employer does not have to pay the employee while they take time off for public duties, although many do. The employment contract will normally say whether the employee will be paid for this time off. 

Other types of duties
Many employers are keen to show a commitment to social responsibility and allow time off for employees who are in organisations like the special constabulary or Territorial Army. However, your employer doesn't have to grant this time. Territorial Army members have special employment protection if called up. 

Parental Leave
Parental leave offers qualifying parents the right to take unpaid time off work to look after a child or make arrangements for their welfare. It can help employees to spend more time with their child and strike a better balance between work and family commitments. 

Parental leave entitlement
Employees have the right to parental leave if:

• have been employed by the same company for a year or more
• are an 'employee', with a contract of employment (most agency and casual staff don't have the right to parental leave)
• are a parent named on the child's birth certificate or
• are named on the child's adoption certificate or
• have legal parental responsibility for a child under five (18 if disabled) 

Both parents have the right to parental leave. Separated parents, who don't live with their children, have the right to parental leave if they have formal parental responsibility for the children. Foster parents do not have rights to parental leave.

How much parental leave can you take?
An employee can take a total of up to 13 weeks' parental leave for each of their children up until their fifth birthday. If a child is adopted, an employee can take a total of up to 13 weeks' parental leave until the fifth anniversary of their placement or until their 18th birthday, whichever comes first.  If the child is disabled (that is, getting disability living allowance) you have the right to take up to 18 weeks' parental leave until their 18th birthday. 

Parental leave is an individual right and an employee cannot transfer the leave between parents, for example a father cannot decide to take only ten weeks and the mother take 16 weeks.

Parental leave schemes
Wherever possible, employers and employees should make their own agreements about how parental leave will work in a workplace, but if this is not possible the following 'fallback scheme' applies automatically. The terms of the workplace agreement cannot be less favourable than the fallback scheme. 

An employee cannot take more than four weeks' leave for any one child in a year.

For these purposes, a year starts when the employee becomes eligible for parental leave. This is either when the child is born, or when they have worked for their employer continuously for one year, whichever comes later.

Taking parental leave
There are certain steps an employee must take when applying, including deciding how long to apply for. Employers could postpone the request, but only on very specific grounds. 

Employees must give at least 21 days' notice when they want to take parental leave. If they wish to take parental leave immediately after the birth or adoption of a child they should give notice 21 days before the beginning of the expected week of childbirth or placement. In cases where this may not be possible, notice should be given as soon as possible.

Provided that the employee has given the correct notice, parental leave can start on the day the child is born or placed, regardless of whether that is earlier or later than the date given to the employer.

Employers may ask for evidence that their employees are entitled to parental leave, this could be:

• child's birth certificate
• child's adoption documents
• the award of disability living allowance for a child

Can employers postpone leave?
Unless an employee wants to take parental leave immediately after the birth or adoption, an employer can postpone their leave for up to six months if they feel it would disrupt the business. Reasonable grounds employers to postpone leave could include:

• the period applied for is at a seasonal peak
• if a significant proportion of the workforce has applied for parental leave at the same time
• if the role is such that absence at a particular time would unduly harm the business.

If the postponement goes past the end of the entitlement period, employees can still take the leave.