Bank Holiday working

PeachyM00

Hi

some advise for my partner please as we dont know whats right or wrong in this case.

His contract states 20 days holiday plus bank holidays.
My partner has been told he is on call all next week for both of the bank holidays. He has been told he either gets paid double pay if called out, or gets paid normal time and gets a day off in Lieu.

His contract states that sundays and bank holidays are paid at double pay if worked.

As the bank holiday Monday (not arguing the Tuesday as its not an offical bank holiday) is part of his allowance shouldnt he get a day of in lieu regardless of whether he works? as being on call means all he can do is sit at home and wait for the phone to ring!?

Everyone he speaks to in the company says something different. He has asked for a copy of his terms & conditions (which his handbook refers to) but no one seems to have one and neither do any of his colleagues!

i would also point out that being on call was not part of his job description or contract, he just got sent the call out rota through the post one day and has been questioning it ever since - without success!

many thanks!

Jarndyce

PeachyM00 wrote: »

Hi

some advise for my partner please as we dont know whats right or wrong in this case.

His contract states 20 days holiday plus bank holidays.
My partner has been told he is on call all next week for both of the bank holidays. He has been told he either gets paid double pay if called out, or gets paid normal time and gets a day off in Lieu.

His contract states that sundays and bank holidays are paid at double pay if worked.

As the bank holiday Monday (not arguing the Tuesday as its not an offical bank holiday) is part of his allowance shouldnt he get a day of in lieu regardless of whether he works? as being on call means all he can do is sit at home and wait for the phone to ring!?

Everyone he speaks to in the company says something different. He has asked for a copy of his terms & conditions (which his handbook refers to) but no one seems to have one and neither do any of his colleagues!

i would also point out that being on call was not part of his job description or contract, he just got sent the call out rota through the post one day and has been questioning it ever since - without success!

many thanks!

I thought Tuesday was an official bank holiday by the way.

if his contract and staff handbook are silent and his boss doesn't know then he simply needs to clarify the contractual position by writing to HR/Head Office or whoever.

He could say that unless he receives a definitive and satisfactory reply he will assume that he does not have to participate in an on call rota and will ignore future rotas. That should concentrate their minds!

AbbieCadabra

can't answer re: lieu time, but Tues is an official bank holiday & if his contract states 20 days PLUS bank holidays, he's definitely due an extra day.

zagfles

What does his contract state about being on-call? This would usually be part of the overtime policy. If it states nothing, and his contract doesn't require him to be on call, I'd suggest he negotiates a reasonable payment/or a day off in lieu (or both!)

ktothema

I don't know for sure, but could this be an issue with technically buying off holidays. As OPs oh is only on minimum holiday allowance, are the company allowed to pay off?

Emmzi

on call time is not technically working time, so the problem only kicks in *if* he gets a call.

getmore4less

What are the contractual terms of the on-call.

If they have not given out specific terms then as long as he is contactable that should do. He turns up when he can so can still go out and do things.

As the holidays are statutory then they need to amend there T&C to take account of the last 2 changes to statutory holidays, they caanon buy out the statutory allowance.

Probably worth reminding the company that their policies are not in line with stutory requirement so need to be updated.

The sooner all compnaies move away from holidays as X+BH the better.

They don't work for April to march holiday years beacause the number of olidays can be different.

The BH need special treatment if they are ever worked.

Compnaies allready have the ability to fix any holidays so can still have BH as normaly fixed days

Horseunderwater

Has statutory requirement changed recently then? So far as I know it is a total of 20 days including bank holidays - not 20 + bank holidays. The employer has the option to enhance conditions to 20+ bank holidays which most will do and do do. Had not read that anything had changed - but if somebody has the relevant legislation handy that states the latter is now law, then I will take that on board. Was that way when I trained up to do wages and all the associated admin with SSP/holidays etc.
Days off in lieu - where I worked were granted if you worked on any official bank holiday and wanted actual time off in compensation - driving being such a case. Or if time off not necessary then you could take double pay on the day instead. Christmas was always fun to work out. I used to do a flow chart of yes no answers to tackle that one!
Also if you are on call - you are entitled (used to be the case) to claim back for any loss or extra expense if say you went out and had to leave early say - such as a family meal out locally and they had to take a taxi home as only one car, called a reasonable expense - receipt needed. And there is normally a fee that gets paid to employee as well and as soon as the call is made you begin charging for paid time at the agreed call out rate, not necessarily your normal hourly rate, depends on contract. But if no call terms in contract then I'd be dubious as to whether that employee could be on a call out rota. The ACAS website might have further details about rights etc.

marybelle01

Horseunderwater wrote: »

Has statutory requirement changed recently then? So far as I know it is a total of 20 days including bank holidays - not 20 + bank holidays. .

Not recently no - about three years ago I think! Statutory holiday is 28 days which may include bank holidays, but taking bank holidays isn't a right.

Mista_C

Emmzi wrote: »

on call time is not technically working time, so the problem only kicks in *if* he gets a call.

I think that depends on the contract/on-call agreement.

When on-call I was expected to respond via remote access within 2 minutes and/or be able to get on-site within 30 minutes. I couldn't take a bank holiday break in Cornwall, for instance, in case I was needed on-site therefore I was reimbursed for the entire day, calls or not.

paddedjohn

Horseunderwater wrote: »

Has statutory requirement changed recently then? So far as I know it is a total of 20 days including bank holidays - not 20 + bank holidays. The employer has the option to enhance conditions to 20+ bank holidays which most will do and do do. Had not read that anything had changed - but if somebody has the relevant legislation handy that states the latter is now law, then I will take that on board. Was that way when I trained up to do wages and all the associated admin with SSP/holidays etc.
Days off in lieu - where I worked were granted if you worked on any official bank holiday and wanted actual time off in compensation - driving being such a case. Or if time off not necessary then you could take double pay on the day instead. Christmas was always fun to work out. I used to do a flow chart of yes no answers to tackle that one!
Also if you are on call - you are entitled (used to be the case) to claim back for any loss or extra expense if say you went out and had to leave early say - such as a family meal out locally and they had to take a taxi home as only one car, called a reasonable expense - receipt needed. And there is normally a fee that gets paid to employee as well and as soon as the call is made you begin charging for paid time at the agreed call out rate, not necessarily your normal hourly rate, depends on contract. But if no call terms in contract then I'd be dubious as to whether that employee could be on a call out rota. The ACAS website might have further details about rights etc.

I don't know how long ago it was since you last worked but your info above is years out of date. The minimum entitlement for a full time employee is 28 days which can include the bank holidays, there is no automatic right to enhanced pay for working on a Bh and if you do work it you must be given a chance to take the day another time.