sickess and holiday leave

crafty*kate

Those are Bank Holidays - different. Statutory holidays is the amount of leave your employer HAS to give you - if you work 5 days a week then it's 28 days. See Direct.gov

KiKi

blondie21 wrote: »

All these are not statutory days approx 4 are stat and poss 15 days holidays to take....

You misunderstand what 'statutory' means.

It doesn't mean Bank Holidays - which is what you are referring to (the 4). It means the 20 days annual leave and 8 Bank Holidays (ie, 28 days in total) that you are to have by law (ie, written in statute).

KiKi

SarEl

paddedjohn wrote: »

i think it was a dig at SarEl;)

I don't generally have time to check typo's - I am thinking about the issue and not my typing. If people want lessons in spelling, grammar or typing, they should try the board that does that - not the employment advice board.

SarEl

paddedjohn wrote: »

its illegal to pay for them isnt it?

Not if someone is on long term sickness absence. In these cases the employer can choose to pay rather than carry over (and it may, for someone who is not receiving sick pay, be preferable to them). It is only unlawful (since we are being pedantic here, it isn't illegal at all - this is civil law and not criminal law) to pay for untaken statutory leave as an alternative to being allowed to take the leave when someone could have taken the leave (i.e. not off sick, etc).

However, the principles established in Stringer and other cases are now under question again as the ECJ is being asked to consider further cases which re-open the question of whether people on long term sickness should accrue holiday at all, since the provisions for leave specifically state that these are to entitle employees to a break from work, and the argument is that since they are sick they are not working, and therefore should not accrue leave. Although no such case has yet been heard, there has been legal opinion from a senior judge in Europe that the argument has merit. It is therefore very likely that the principles already extablished in law will be challenged, and although it is likley to be a few years before the effects of this slide into legislation, very likely that changes will be made.

Uncertain

KiKi wrote: »

It doesn't mean Bank Holidays - which is what you are referring to (the 4). It means the 20 days annual leave and 8 Bank Holidays (ie, 28 days in total) that you are to have by law (ie, written in statute).

It looks as though that is what applies in the OP's case (which is no doubt why you have phrased it like that).

However, just to clarify for the benefit of anybody else reading, your statutory right is to 28 days holiday per year. There is nothing special or legally protected about the bank holidays as such, even Christmas day. Obviously there are lots of jobs where all staff are needed on bank holidays as they are the busiest times so those staff have to take their holiday at other times.

Because a company can tell you when you have to take your holiday (within a few limits) many firms close on bank holidays and in those cases it generally means that is eight days of your holiday already decided leaving 20 (i.e. four weeks) to book and take in the normal way.

HTH

blondie21

our dompany closes many f the days christmas day etc, easter but the rest are as you san statutory.......so everyone is entitled to these then ?

Uncertain

blondie21 wrote: »

our dompany closes many f the days christmas day etc, easter but the rest are as you san statutory.......so everyone is entitled to these then ?

The point is that you have an absolute legal right to 28 days holiday per year but, within a few limits, the company can tell you when you must take them.

Obviously if the company closes for certain days, that is some of your holiday gone leaving the rest to be booked and taken according to their rules.

You cannot (currently) lose any of these 28 days as a result of being sick. The company must, by law, either pay you for them or let you carry them over to next year.

If you get more than 28 days the company can set whatever rules and conditions it likes regarding those extra days.

Sorry, I just don't know how to make this any clearer.

blondie21

I have to ring HR on Tues after being told if i dont take these days by the end of december 2011 ,I will lose them. I said "well what if i am still on sick leave and dont return to work until January 2012" (mid jan most likely)
I was told you will loose them.
so can anyone advise me how i should proceed ( what to say etc )when I ring them....
I should go straight for the Jugular.........but I'm a coward.
please help!!!!

paddedjohn

blondie21 wrote: »

I have to ring HR on Tues after being told if i dont take these days by the end of december 2011 ,I will lose them. I said "well what if i am still on sick leave and dont return to work until January 2012" (mid jan most likely)
I was told you will loose them.
so can anyone advise me how i should proceed ( what to say etc )when I ring them....
I should go straight for the Jugular.........but I'm a coward.
please help!!!!

I will refer you to post #15, all the info you need is laid out there. You cant lose them at all, the person you spoke to obviously knows nothing, normally you would lose them if you didnt take them by the end of the leave year but being on the sick gives you a level of protection.

getmore4less

blondie21 wrote: »

I have to ring HR on Tues after being told if i dont take these days by the end of december 2011 ,I will lose them. I said "well what if i am still on sick leave and dont return to work until January 2012" (mid jan most likely)
I was told you will loose them.
so can anyone advise me how i should proceed ( what to say etc )when I ring them....
I should go straight for the Jugular.........but I'm a coward.
please help!!!!

start with

"Why are the company policies not compliant with current employment legislation regarding holiday accrual during sickness".

"Why have they not been updated to comply with the recent european rulings"

"you have penty of time to sort this out before I return you need to get legal advice"