Holiday pay??

cantcope

I wonder if anyone can help me? I've been working for an agency for over 6 months at the same place and whenever i take holiday i've been getting paid the same amount as if i worked (holiday is accrued).

they have now changed the holiday pay to being paid at an average rate over the last 12 weeks. So, if i've had holiday in the previous 12 weeks they dont count the money i was paid that day in with their calculations for working out my average rate. They didnt tell me this, i noticed when i took a day off a few weeks ago.

I've told them i dont agree and have sought advice from ACAS, Citizens advice and the government website. They all say this is wrong and i should be paid at my usual rate.

I've given all this information to them but they aren't budging. With 4 bank holidays on the way soon I cant afford not to earn my usual weekly wage as i only have a few pounds left over each week after paying my bills.

Other than resigning and trying for a job somewhere else what can i do?

I have written a letter as per their greivance procedure but i seem to be being ignored.

Any help is appreciated x

LittleVoice

They are correct not to count the money you were paid for holiday as part of your earnings.

They need to take the average hourly rate of when you were actually working. If you have been paid at the same rate throughout this makes no difference.

Only difference is if you were working out your entitlement to the actual time by including your holiday.

cantcope

So why did they not do this before? They have agreed they have changed it and not told us.
If this is now the case surely they have to tell me? For 6 months i have been paid at my usual rate for holiday. They changed it at the beginning of March. And said they'd forgotten to tell me when i queried it.

LittleVoice

How has your hourly rate varied over the past 12 weeks? Has it just gone up a lot?

cantcope

it doesnt and has never varied. i get paid an hourly rate and work the same hours every week.

when i've taken holiday in the past i've received the same weekly pay packet as i would when i dont take holiday. I took a day and a half a few weeks back and got paid £1.50 an hour less for the holiday time. They have said its because they've changed their payroll system so rather than get our usual rate as we did before they are now averaging it out.

I dont understand why? I never said they could change my wages or my holiday pay and i certainly didnt sign anything. My office manager said their bills have gone up from the agency?!

LittleVoice

OK - your hourly rate is the same. Therefore you should receive the same rate for your holiday hours as for your regular worked hours.

However, it seems to me that what is really changing is the amount of holiday in terms of hours that you have accrued at that rate.

I'm guessing now, but maybe they are allocating a pot of money for the hours accrued and because you are taking more hours off than you have accrued they are spreading the pot between the higher number of hours.

As you are a temp, they can change how they calculate things - but they need to explain it. You need to be given the details in writing. (And I know from experience this can be difficult to get out of agencies as the consultants you meet in the branch often don't understand the system themselves and won't give you contact details of anyone in payroll who does understand it!)

LittleVoice

OK - your hourly rate is the same. Therefore you should receive the same rate for your holiday hours as for your regular worked hours.

However, it seems to me that what is really changing is the amount of holiday in terms of hours that you have accrued at that rate.

I'm guessing now, but maybe they are allocating a pot of money for the hours accrued and because you are taking more hours off than you have accrued they are spreading the pot between the higher number of hours.

As you are a temp, they can change how they calculate things - but they need to explain it. You need to be given the details in writing. (And I know from experience this can be difficult to get out of agencies as the consultants you meet in the branch often don't understand the system themselves and won't give you contact details of anyone in payroll who does understand it!)

The other possibility is that they are applying some form of rolled up holiday pay - which they should not do.

You need to get a full explanation of how they calculate holiday pay/holiday entitlement.

cantcope

My entitlement to holiday is 24 days. from 1st April the law changes to 28 days.
I have been accruing 3.75 hours per week to get me to 24 days and this will go up very slightly from tomorrow.
Thanks for your response x

JoeBreakdown

You must accrue holiday based on the number of hours you actually work. If they work this out on a 12 week basis, if you have taken holiday in that thime, you have worked less hours and are therefore entitled to less holiday.

I know this is how Adecco work and have done so for years.

Joe

cantcope

Agency workers are entitled to 28 days paid holiday per year as from 1st April.

It should not be less if you take holiday. Only if you take unpaid leave.

Otherwise how would you ever get the 28 days without working a whole year and then taking a month off.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/Timeoffandholidays/DG_10029788

cantcope

Just a quick update.... Mnapower have at long last come to a decision about whether this is right or not. I have a letter from them after 3 months of correspondence flying back and forth to say they are leaving my holiday pay as it was.

They say this is because they dont want me to feel uncomfortable with their process.

This has come after 3 months worth of letters flying back and forth in which not once could they explain how my holiday would be calculated (they kept changing their minds with each letter) or why they'd changed my working terms without telling me. One week they even paid me more than my usual rate?!! and i never change my working hours but they couldnt understand why i qquestioned that my average was higher..

Cantcope 1 - Manpower 0