Bank Holiday if shop is closed?

QuickQuestion

Hello!
I'm asking on behalf of a family memeber who works in a small shop. She's only 'part-time' but works full time hours. She doesn't have a contract.....
She recently asked to see how much holiday she has left and was shocked to find only one day. Her boss has taken off the bank holidays (which I know they can do) but the shop was closed on the bank holidays so she had no alternative but to take the time off. An example is that she has charged holiday on boxing day and the 27th when it's not open.
Is the boss alowed to do this? I've asked a couple of people and they say no (can't get through to CAB!) so i'm just looking for something to quote to her boss.
Really appreciate any help.
Many thanks (:

heretolearn_2

yes, as you say, bank holidays can be included in your annual allowance. After all, our office is shut on bank holidays as well, and people don't have any choice whether to work or not (not), but it still part of their annual leave allowance of 28 days.

What matters is
1) IS she getting the correct amount of leave - is it being worked out correctly by her boss.

2) Is the bank holiday a day she normally works - being part time this effects things. If she normally only works Weds and Thurs, then none of the bank holidays come into it at all. She can't be made to take a non normal working day (for her) as holiday. Otherwise employers could say people had to take Saturdays and sundays out of their holiday! IF she normally does work Mon/Fri, then the bank holidays can come out of her leave allowance.

paddedjohn

What are her normal days of work? she is entitled to 5.6 weeks of her normal hours so if she does a thursday and a friday only then she is entitled to 5.6 weeks (11.2 days) of thursdays and fridays, her employer cant as stated above pay her holidays for days she doesnt normally work.
If her hours are sporadic then it may be easier to work her entitlement out in hours rather than days.

KiKi

Hi OP

(I will assume for now that her contract doesn't allow for any more than the full-time statutory paid holiday of 28 days a year.)

The easiest way to work this out is by forgetting the difference between Bank Holidays and Annual Leave for a moment. Just look at her total paid leave which is 28 days.

1) Firstly, pro-rata her 28 days paid leave. Eg, if she works 4 days a week, then it's 28 (paid leave days) divided by 5 (working days in a week) multiplied by 4 (her working days)

2) Find out when her leave year begins and ends. 01 January to 31 December?

3) Find out how many days ANNUAL LEAVE she's had so far

4) Find out how many BANK HOLIDAYS she's HAD to take off where she hasn't had to work a day in lieu (Ie, if she had to take a BH but then worked another day to make up for it, this doesn't count. If she had to take a BH and didn't make up a day for it, then you should count it here)

5) Add up her total days off (AL + BH)

6) Subtract that from her total leave days, and that's how many days she has left


BHs for part-time working can be tricky because obviously some shops close, meaning staff have no choice but to not work. So the only way to work it out is to work out her legal entitlement to total paid leave allowed for the year (as I described in 1.) and then take off all her booked AL and the BHs she's HAD to take.

You can't just look at it as 20 days AL pro-ratad, and only take off the BHs that you work. You have to pro-rata the whole entitlement of 28 days, not look at what work days fall on BHs. (If you did the latter, then some PTers wouldn't even get their legal minimum leave.)

I hope that helps a bit.
KiKi

Savvy_Sue

does she know when her leave year begins and ends?

Judith_W

Unfortunately companies can certainly ask for employees to take holidays at set times to suit business needs and can include BHs. E.g. factories closing over xmas because they can't stay open with lots of employees taking holiday.