Holiday allowance query

Rich_by_Name_2

I wonder if someone can help me please.

My wife works one day a week, each and every Saturday. As with everybody in the country, she is legally entitled to 5.6 weeks off per annum. In her case, this clearly amounts to 5.6 days, although the company in question 'generously' offers 5.8 weeks (and makes a big deal of it).

The company she works for starts it's accounting year in April and, in line with that, all annual holiday entitlements are considered over the April to March period.

She has taken four days off so far this year since April, but has been told today that there is no holiday available for anyone to take for the remainder of the twelve month period. This is because they only allow two people to take a day's holiday on any one Saturday.

I know a fair amount of people, and the majority do not know what they will be doing in four months time. I therefore think this is extremely unreasonable. They have also confirmed that unused holiday may not be taken as cash.

This situation is surely illegal, and this is what I am seeking confirmation of. In my mind, they are duty bound to provide 5.6 working days of holiday. Are they breaking the law by saying that there is no holiday left for anyone to take over a four month period when there are people who have not submitted their annual leave requests yet?

To me, it is quite reasonable for my wife to ask which dates would be available in the next four months that she could take. Conversely, it is unreasonable in my opinion to be told that there are no Saturdays in the next 17 or so that can be taken as holiday by anyone.

My question is whether or not the company in question is behaving illegally. I think they are, but would appreciate some substance behind my gut feeling.

Thanks in advance.

AP007

The employer can dictate to staff when they can and can not take holiday as long as they get to take all their holiday in the holiday year.

A restriction over some months or trading time is normal.

getmore4less

The key here is the only day available is a Sat and they are saying no more Sat.

AP007

getmore4less wrote: »

The key here is the only day available is a Sat and they are saying no more Sat.

oh oops I missed that bit

They have to allow the days left to be taken on the usual day of work and can not pay her for it either in absence of taking it

paddedjohn

Is the company closing over Christmas and New Year?

liney

It is her statutory right to take the annual leave before the end of the holiday year. They are correct in that they cannot pay her cash for the remaining days - this is only allowed if she is leaving, or they come to an arrangement for days accrued over the statutory 5.6 weeks.

I would draft an email to HR along the lines of:

Dear X,

I work on Saturdays, and have 1.8 days leave days to take before Xdate. I have been unable to book this leave via the supervisor who is under the impression it will be lost as the company rota is too busy to allow my absence. Obviously as a statutory entitlement this cannot be the case.

Please could you liaise with X and email me to detail when I may take this outstanding leave.

Kind Regards


If they they refuse you in writing you can take further action.

paddedjohn

She can also carry over the 1.6 days if she can't take them but it has to be by mutual consent.

RichByName

Thank you all for your useful posts.

brz3igler

Hi. Just curious, did the company provide options for their employees who cannot make use of their leave/off? If yes, then I think there shouldn't be a problem. Some companies provide double pay on holiday as an option or a somewhat 'refund' / 'cash out' pay for holidays that should have been taken a day off from office. But then if they can't provide that, then your wife should get accumulative days off from office to make sure she's able to take advantage of the company day off 'benefit' they offered before they agreed signing contract for employment.

Also I know one company that allows a carry over leave which means an employee can make use of their unused leave on the next year if they don't want to have it converted to cash.

Rich_by_Name_2

No, no options given - just that all Saturday holiday spaces have been taken up, and that no holiday can be carried over and no money will be paid for outstanding holiday not taken. The thing is, they've allowed people to work overtime in exchange for either the cash, or time off in lieu.

Naturally, for those people who have taken the latter, the company has effectively 'tricked' free labour out of them which is a disgrace in itself. However, this is no reason for them ignoring what they are legally obliged to do which is provide 5.6 weeks of annual leave.

Now they could argue that the option to book it was there earlier in the year, but I think it's unreasonable and probably illegal to take the stance that they are taking right now, which is to say that there is no holiday whatsoever available in the next four and a half months to people that haven't booked it off already.

paddedjohn

brz3igler wrote: »

Hi. Just curious, did the company provide options for their employees who cannot make use of their leave/off? If yes, then I think there shouldn't be a problem. Some companies provide double pay on holiday as an option or a somewhat 'refund' / 'cash out' pay for holidays that should have been taken a day off from office. But then if they can't provide that, then your wife should get accumulative days off from office to make sure she's able to take advantage of the company day off 'benefit' they offered before they agreed signing contract for employment.

Also I know one company that allows a carry over leave which means an employee can make use of their unused leave on the next year if they don't want to have it converted to cash.

It is illegal for a company to buy your holidays off you.