Holiday Pay - Off Shore Work

Kayleigh14

Any help would be appreciated:

Here are the basics...
Partner works off shore on boats - 3 weeks on, 3 weeks off. His salary is calculated on a work:leave cycle of 1:1, so for every week worked he accrues a weeks paid leave at the same pay rate.

His contract states that he is also entitled to 30 days paid holiday per year. Holidays must be taken during “off weeks”, not tagged onto the start or end of his leave to give longer at home. Holiday weeks basically mean they can’t phone and send him back to work like they would do in normal “off weeks”.

My question is - if he is coming home for his 3 “off weeks” and has those 3 weeks booked as holiday weeks, should he be receiving holiday pay on top of the pay he usually receives for his “off weeks”?

I have just found out that he doesn’t get any extra when on holiday, he only receives his normal salary, and I’m really not sure that’s right, or if it is and I’m just missing something completely!!
I’m understanding it that since he is usually paid for his time off anyway, if he isn’t paid any extra on top of that when on holiday then he isn’t actually receiving any of the 30 days paid holiday that is in his contract?? Hope this makes some kind of sense :rotfl:

Savvy_Sue

I think what you're missing is that it's unusual to be paid 'extra' when you're on holiday: I don't get 'extra' when I've booked annual leave.

I think you'd need to look at his terms and conditions, but it looks to me as if 'holiday weeks' mean he can't be interrupted. So when he's not booked 'holiday', he isn't really 'on holiday', he remains available to the employer, which means you can't decide to spend those non-holiday weeks at the other end of the country, or sunning yourself in the Caribbean.

t0rt0ise

Sounds wrong to me. The 30 days holiday should be time off work not taken on normal days off. He needs to join a union and get them to sort it out.

Kayleigh14

I haven!!!8217;t explained it very well in my first post at all, sorry!! While offshore he works 84 hours per week over 7 days. His salary is worked out in such a way that for every week on he works he is paid for 42 of those hours and the other 42 hours is paid while he is off.

Completely get what you!!!8217;re saying about the extra pay Savvy_Sue, I think I!!!8217;ve been focused on the wrong thing. I just feel like there!!!8217;s something not right as his holidays must be taken when he is already entitled to be off. Surely the 30 days paid holiday should be taken during !!!8220;time on!!!8221;.
I feel like it!!!8217;s the equivalent of someone in a normal 9-5 being made to use their holidays on the weekend when they!!!8217;re already off?

Yeah I think it might be worth getting a Union to have a look t0rt0ise.

Kayleigh14

No idea what has happened to the text in that post
Wont let me edit

GreenTreen123

He!!!8217;s not coming home to three weeks leave. He!!!8217;s coming home to the equivalent of !!!8220;the weekend!!!8221; for Monday - Friday workers.

Your husband gets money every month/week for 52 weeks of the year therefore he!!!8217;s getting holiday pay like everyone else.

He needs to specify time where he can!!!8217;t be called back into work on his three weeks he!!!8217;s on shore.

What area is he working? U.K. or outside U.K. and is seen as a tax exile?

Kayleigh14

It depends where the company he works for has work contracts are. He has been mainly UK based for the last couple of years but before that was all over Europe.

GreenTreen123

Can you stop bullying me please? You are nasty.

GreenTreen123

@kayleigh Is he getting a PAYE payslip with NI and U.K. tax contributions? If so he’s U.K. taxed.

He would have to refer to his contract or ask someone at work because as he’s only working for half the year, he’s not subject to working time directive laws.

That was the situation a few years ago but I would get him to ask colleagues and work.

sangie595

This one is easy - I did a two year stint on our marine section!

And just for information, although it's not relevant here - a lot of employment law differs for "sea crews". You can't apply the same conditions on these types of jobs as you would with most other jobs.

Holidays are easy though. The nearest equivalency is arrangements for term time working. Basically, the wage your partner gets is based on his employers specific working practices - so, effectively, his "holiday pay" is included in the overall wage. That overall wage is then divided by 12 to get his monthly wage. But that means that in technical terms, he works fully 12 months because he's "been paid" for his holiday already. However that isn't allowed - the employer can't legally buy his holiday off him like that. So that holiday pay effectively becomes a "bank". Then when he wants holiday - defined as time when he is not available to his employer - he must take some time out of the "bank". But since he's already being paid for that time, he doesn't get double.

Does that make sense? I know exactly how it works, but it's surprisingly hard to explain in writing!

GreenTreen123

^no it doesn!!!8217;t. He works 12 hour shifts for 3 weeks, and gets paid those over the course of monthly payments, much like teaching assistants who work seasonally.

Working time directive says that as he!!!8217;s already getting half a year of, not working, therefore he isn!!!8217;t legally required to get 5.6 weeks of like normal people who work 46 weeks of the year.

That!!!8217;s my understanding/argument