'part time 'working /holiday days

marc3

my wife is classified in her employment as 'part time'

this consists of working 3 weeks at 36 hours a week,and one week at 30 hours-specifically a 5 day week for 3 weeks, followed by a 4 day week.

when it comes to holidays-her employer says as she is 'part time'(not that a minimum of 36 hours is that 'part time '), and says that statutory/bank holidays count as part of her holiday entitlement.
i.e she does not get bank holidays in addition to her holidays-but count as part of her total holiday entitlement .

The other employess (10 in total ) work 40 hour weeks.
they all get their annual holiday entitlement PLUS bank holidays.

I have done a bit of research-but can't find definitive answer as to if this is correct.

my gut feel is that it is wrong-on two counts:

a) fundamentally-she should get bank holidays in addition to her normal entitlement.

b) part time workers cannot be discriminated against-and have the same rights as full time workers (and again 36 hours over a five day week is hardly part time anyway !!)

am i correct, or is the employer correct.

any guidance advice/correct facts appreciated

thank you

nimbo

As far as I am aware - and I am not a solicitor.

An employer decides what if 'full time' I have worked places where this is 35 hours 37 hours 37.5 hours or 40 hours a week.

If the 'norm' where she is based is 40 - then I would imagine this is full time there.

Where I am currently based part time workers get their 25 annual leave days (this does go up with length of service) added to the 8 bank holiday days and then get a proportion of this pro rata in hours. They then have to book off the bank holidays. Which this year sucks - as there are extras - but next year they're Better off.

I am assuming that the work place have done this in relation to your wife's entitlement. It shouldn't be that far off the full amount - but there is between a 25% - 10% reduction in the hours you're reporting and what the employer considers full time.

I realise that's just my understanding - and I'm not in employment law.

nimbo

https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights/entitlement

Right at the top of this page it states for part time workers bank holiday can be included in the paid holiday entitlement of part time workers. And explains how to do the relevant math.

Does your wife's contract state she is full time?

getmore4less

Part time get pro rata what full time get.

If full time get X+BH part time get a prorata of both bits.
pro rata can get a bit complicated if the hours/days vary.

If she worked 5 equal days of 1hr each she would be entitled to X+BH the same as full timers (only her holiday days would be paid at 1hr not full time rate).

what hours does she work each day? 5 into 36 and 4 into 30 give diverent numbers.

lazer

marc3 wrote: »

my wife is classified in her employment as 'part time'

this consists of working 3 weeks at 36 hours a week,and one week at 30 hours-specifically a 5 day week for 3 weeks, followed by a 4 day week.

when it comes to holidays-her employer says as she is 'part time'(not that a minimum of 36 hours is that 'part time '), and says that statutory/bank holidays count as part of her holiday entitlement.
i.e she does not get bank holidays in addition to her holidays-but count as part of her total holiday entitlement .

The other employess (10 in total ) work 40 hour weeks.
they all get their annual holiday entitlement PLUS bank holidays.

I have done a bit of research-but can't find definitive answer as to if this is correct.

my gut feel is that it is wrong-on two counts:

a) fundamentally-she should get bank holidays in addition to her normal entitlement.

b) part time workers cannot be discriminated against-and have the same rights as full time workers (and again 36 hours over a five day week is hardly part time anyway !!)

am i correct, or is the employer correct.

any guidance advice/correct facts appreciated

thank you

Lets assume the annual entitlement is 25 days plus 8 bank holidays. So they get 25 days they can book of when they like and 8 bank holidays off.


In this case your wife's entitlement should be:


Total Entitlement of full time workers - 33 days (25 + 8)


Your wife works 86.25% of the hours of full time workers (ie: over 4 weeks she does 138 hours, they do 160), therefore her entitlement should be (86.25% X 33 days) 28.5 days.


Now if the employer wants to say it is 28.5 days over the year, with no requirement to take bank holidays, or 20.5days plus bank holidays (with a day in Lieu if the bank holiday falls on a day she doesn't normally work), it doesn't actually make a difference to her entitlement.


Its the overall entitlement that matters, not bank holidays, a lot of places will work the same way, work out part time workers entitlement (Statutory & NonStatutory) is and tell them to take bank holidays from this, its easier than pro-rata bank holidays, and then ensuring they are taken, or days in lieu, or not taken or whatever.

Guest101

It is ofcourse possible that other employees simply negotiated better holiday packages?


Seems unlikely, but stranger things have happened.

LittleVoice

Guest101 wrote: »

It is ofcourse possible that other employees simply negotiated better holiday packages?


Seems unlikely, but stranger things have happened.

Perhaps.


But it is unlawful to treat part-time workers in a manner which is worse that a full-time member of staff simply because they are part-timers - which is what this employer seems to be doing.

TBagpuss

What does he contract say?

I know that in my company, oler contracts said "x days plus bank holidays" and newer ones say "x days" (which is a higher figure but includes bank holidays) to avoid any uncertainty and any issues about how to calculate the time off.

It may be discriminatory IF your wife is treated less well becuase hse is part time, and ofr no other reason

What is the holiday entitlement (including bank holidays) for the other staff and what is her entitlement (including bank holidays) If hers is less than 86% of theirs (adopting lazer's figures) then she is getting less. remember to only count bank holidays where she would normally work, so that may be less than 8 days if some of them fall on days whenshe would not be working in any event.

If she is getting less holiday, pro-rata, than someone working the higher number of hours then she can ask for a written statement of reasons as to why she is (or appears to be) treated less favourably, which the employer must then produce within 21 days.

Bear in mind that there may be reasons why unequal treatment can be objectively justified, and it is also possible that the underlying reason is not that she is part time (for instance, if she is on an older or newer contract than others )

Guest101

LittleVoice wrote: »

Perhaps.


But it is unlawful to treat part-time workers in a manner which is worse that a full-time member of staff simply because they are part-timers - which is what this employer seems to be doing.

Well if everyone else negotiated up and the part timer didn't, then that's their own fault.


But to answer your question, no it's not:
There are some situations when employers don’t have to treat part-time workers in the same way as full-time employees. In these situations the employer must be able to show there is a good reason to do so - this is called ‘objective justification’.

glentoran99

marc3 wrote: »

my wife is classified in her employment as 'part time'

this consists of working 3 weeks at 36 hours a week,and one week at 30 hours-specifically a 5 day week for 3 weeks, followed by a 4 day week.

when it comes to holidays-her employer says as she is 'part time'(not that a minimum of 36 hours is that 'part time '), and says that statutory/bank holidays count as part of her holiday entitlement.
i.e she does not get bank holidays in addition to her holidays-but count as part of her total holiday entitlement .

The other employess (10 in total ) work 40 hour weeks.
they all get their annual holiday entitlement PLUS bank holidays.

I have done a bit of research-but can't find definitive answer as to if this is correct.

my gut feel is that it is wrong-on two counts:

a) fundamentally-she should get bank holidays in addition to her normal entitlement.

b) part time workers cannot be discriminated against-and have the same rights as full time workers (and again 36 hours over a five day week is hardly part time anyway !!)

am i correct, or is the employer correct.

any guidance advice/correct facts appreciated

thank you

Whats the total holiday entitlement your wife gets? and whats the total the others get?

Undervalued

LittleVoice wrote: »

Perhaps.


But it is unlawful to treat part-time workers in a manner which is worse that a full-time member of staff simply because they are part-timers - which is what this employer seems to be doing.

I have highlighted the key phrase.

How do you know it is not for some other reason e.g. longer serving, harder working, or just great mates with the boss (which would be a perfectly lawful reason)!