Holiday entitlement question - am I getting screwed by my boss?

the_international

Hi all,

I'm totally lost and I'm not entirely sure what to do. From one point of view I'm really happy, because about a week ago I have signed a contract at a new job and handed in my notice. I should be ecstatic. On the other hand, I'm annoyed, because my boss wants to screw me over.

I have been working for this particular company for over two years and in 2014 I was entitled to 21 days of holidays. I took 10 days in June, got back from the holiday, handed in my notice and had a talk with my boss about the remaining ten days. I was told that I have taken out all of holidays that I could have taken this year and I don't have any more days. According to my boss I haven't worked long enough to accrue the remaining 11 days....

Now, I'm perfectly aware that in quite a lot of jobs you need to accrue your holidays and at the new place that is exactly what I will need to do, but at this place no one ever told me about this and it's not even mentioned in the contract.

In a way my boss is like my friend and I don't want to become confrontational, but I'm getting really annoyed. Initially I thought that I'll just forget about it, but then one of my colleagues has just went away abroad for two weeks, even though she has been at the company for less than a year. This same colleague has already taken out of two week holiday in January (2014).

Could someone recommend me a way to approach my boss or maybe give me some tips on what should I do in a situation like this?

Thanks,

R.

TrickyDicky101

You haven't earned the holiday. You are not being screwed.

I can't understand why you think you are entitled to more.

Your colleague will presumably come back from holiday and will work out the rest of the year thus earning back the holiday she has already taken. You won't be around to earn the remainder of this year's holiday so the same does not apply to you.

Takeaway_Addict

You don't get your full years holiday allowance if you leave part way through the year....that seems common sense surely?

What you need to do is work out what you are entitled to for the year (including Bank Holidays if these are on top of your holiday days) and then pro-rata it down to the percentage of the holiday year you have worked (less any holidays taken).

If you are entitled to more holiday than you have taken then the employer needs to pay you for the difference but if you have used too much the employer is entitled to take the money back out of your last pay.

jobbingmusician

I think your boss is probably right.

Your statutory entitlement to holiday (the MINIMUM to which you are entitled) is 5.6 weeks. If you work full time this is 28 days, including bank holidays.

Obviously I don't know what your contract says, but it can't be less than this. You have told us you are entitled to 21 days - so let's assume this is based on stat min, and you work 3/4 time.

The other thing I don't know is when your leave year starts and ends. Assuming it started in Jan, I assume you didn't go to work on Jan 1, Apr 18, Apr 21, May 5, May 26. And you said you had 10 days in June. This totals 15 days.

If you leave at the end of Aug (still assuming leave year starts in Jan) you would also have the bank holiday on 28th Aug, so you would have taken 16 days. You would be entitled to 2/3 of your 21 days, which is 14 days. You would owe THEM 2 days.......... (sorry for bad news!)

Undervalued

The minimum statutory holiday entitlement is 28 days assuming you are full time. This is often thought of as 20 days plus the eight bank holidays but doesn't have to be.

If you resign then you must either be allowed to take any unused holiday during the notice period or paid for it after you leave.

Holiday accrues daily (not weekly or monthly) and the firm must calculate the exact amount.

Takeaway_Addict

the_international wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm totally lost and I'm not entirely sure what to do. From one point of view I'm really happy, because about a week ago I have signed a contract at a new job and handed in my notice. I should be ecstatic. On the other hand, I'm annoyed, because my boss wants to screw me over.

I have been working for this particular company for over two years and in 2014 I was entitled to 21 days of holidays. I took 10 days in June, got back from the holiday, handed in my notice and had a talk with my boss about the remaining ten days. I was told that I have taken out all of holidays that I could have taken this year and I don't have any more days. According to my boss I haven't worked long enough to accrue the remaining 11 days....

Now, I'm perfectly aware that in quite a lot of jobs you need to accrue your holidays and at the new place that is exactly what I will need to do, but at this place no one ever told me about this and it's not even mentioned in the contract.

In a way my boss is like my friend and I don't want to become confrontational, but I'm getting really annoyed. Initially I thought that I'll just forget about it, but then one of my colleagues has just went away abroad for two weeks, even though she has been at the company for less than a year. This same colleague has already taken out of two week holiday in January (2014).

Could someone recommend me a way to approach my boss or maybe give me some tips on what should I do in a situation like this?

Thanks,

R.

Quoted....

agrinnall

I can only echo what everyone else has said. Your colleagues situation is irrelevant to yours, she has taken holiday before it's been accrued, if she was to leave before the end of the holiday year she would have to repay the employer for the over-taken holiday.

Jitterbug123

Everyone above is correct.

You don't have to accrue the holiday prior to taking it. But you will have only worked 7 months of the year (if your holiday year runs Jan-Dec), so you'll get holiday pro-rata for 7 months of the year.

I currently have 5.5 days remaining of my holiday and have handed in my notice. If I were leaving at the end of this month I would owe them money. I have three months notice period so luckily I don't owe them anything.

fufu_banterwaite

I think the OP was on a wind-up. Either that or a complete wallybrain!