Easter working??

hm2be

My partner works on Sundays normally and is contracted to do 4 days a week. As it is Easter this Sunday and the place is closed, his company has told him that he had to work another week day to make up his hours. We have checked through the contract which is vague but seems to say that bank holidays worked means the workers get an extra day holiday in lieu.

My question is can they make him do this? I thought that if the company is closed that the worker gets a paid day off. Can anyone clarify it?

Fran

Citizens Advice website has info including:

Bank holidays


Unless your contract of employment gives you bank holidays in addition to your four weeks' statutory paid holiday, bank holidays are included when calculating the four weeks' holiday. So if, for example, you have five days off in a year for bank holidays, and you do not get these bank holidays in addition to statutory holiday, you will be entitled to these five days plus another three weeks of holiday.

ka7e

I have query about payment for Bank Holiday working. DD works as a part-time waitress/barmaid for a family-run pub. She normally works Fri 5pm til 1am and Sunday 11am til 5pm. As both these are a Bank Holiday this week, would it be reasonable for her to expect any extra pay? Her boss doesn't have any experience of running a business and doesn't even acknowledge her rights to have a break during her shift. He knows that they have a lot of extra meals booked and hasn't asked for extra staff, so I know she will be rushed off her feet!

RibenaBerry_2

Ka7e, sadly, no, there is no legal right to additional pay for working bank holidays. It's just that its common for employers to offer time and a half, or double time, or whatever to staff in their contracts. Unless her contract says it's extra, or says that she has bank holidays as holiday (in which case, she can negotiate extra to come in on 'her holiday;)), I'm afraid not.

LittleVoice

ka7e wrote: »

I have query about payment for Bank Holiday working. DD works as a part-time waitress/barmaid for a family-run pub. She normally works Fri 5pm til 1am and Sunday 11am til 5pm. As both these are a Bank Holiday this week, would it be reasonable for her to expect any extra pay? Her boss doesn't have any experience of running a business and doesn't even acknowledge her rights to have a break during her shift. He knows that they have a lot of extra meals booked and hasn't asked for extra staff, so I know she will be rushed off her feet!

Assuming she is over 18, she is entitled to at least a 20-minute break during her Friday night shift as this is for more than six hours. However she does not have to take a break but it must be allowed if she wants one.

ka7e

The stingy so-and-so said there would be no time-and-a-half payment, but the girls (DD and her friend) would get an "Easter bonus". Today he's rescinded that and said that as they are paid cash in hand they are not entitled to any extra payment. They have only worked there for 3 months and they haven't earned enough to pay tax! His only concession was a paid lunch break today with a free meal. Which considering she was working an 11 hour shift was hardly generous.

Savvy_Sue

hm2be wrote: »

My partner works on Sundays normally and is contracted to do 4 days a week. As it is Easter this Sunday and the place is closed, his company has told him that he had to work another week day to make up his hours. We have checked through the contract which is vague but seems to say that bank holidays worked means the workers get an extra day holiday in lieu.

My question is can they make him do this? I thought that if the company is closed that the worker gets a paid day off. Can anyone clarify it?

as well as Fran's advice, it's always worth checking that full-timers and part-timers are being treated similarly.

So, if the people working Monday to Friday get bank holidays as paid days off AS WELL AS four weeks annual leave, then your partner should get the same. It's complicated slightly by the fact that Easter Sunday isn't actually a bank holiday (because banks were never open on a Sunday).

If full-timers do get bank holidays as well as four weeks leave, then part-timers are entitled to the same, pro rata. So if full-timers work 5 days per week and you work 4 days per week, you're entitled to 4/5 of 8 extra days leave, IYSWIM.

jobbingmusician

The issue about working another day to make up the hours is actually normal practice and I don’t feel that your partner is being treated unfairly. Yes, I know Easter Sunday isn’t a bank holiday, but (changing the subject slightly but relevant to you) all part time workers should have their bank holidays dealt with in this way (including your partner). There are 8 bank holidays each year in England. (New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Spring BH, May Day, August BH, Christmas Day, Boxing Day). Because some of these fall on different days of the week each week, ALL part time employees are entitled to x% of 8 bank holidays, where x is the percentage of full time which they work. So your partner is entitled to 6.4 bank holidays if he works four fifths of the normal working week. Because firms are normally closed on bank hols, the situation often arises where part time employees who would normally work on these days ‘owe’ time to the company, and are expected to make it up – just like your partner is being expected to make up Easter Sunday.

Sorry this looks complicated, but hope it helps!

LittleVoice

And referring back to Sue's post, if the full-time people don't get bank holidays as a specific element of their holiday entitlement, neither would a part-timer in the same company.