Working on a bank holiday

remyroo

Hi. I’ve just started a p/t job at boots and have just found out that holiday is being deducted from my entitlement for bank holidays that I have worked. Apparently they pay you for the hours worked plus the equivalent annual leave therefore reducing the number of days leave you can actually take. This doesn’t seem right, I know by law you have to work a bank holiday but surely they can’t make you work and also class it as leave albeit paid.

[Deleted User]

remyroo wrote: »

Hi. I’ve just started a p/t job at boots and have just found out that holiday is being deducted from my entitlement for bank holidays that I have worked. Apparently they pay you for the hours worked plus the equivalent annual leave therefore reducing the number of days leave you can actually take.

Are you sure the hours are actually deducted if you work them?
Many employers include Bank Holidays as part of the annual leave entitlement. These are, of course, extra days and so if (for example) you want Xmas Day off (and who wouldn't) you have to book that day as a holiday. Is this what is confusing you perhaps?

Certainly, no leave entitlement should be lost if you actually work a Bank Holiday unless you work less than your contracted hours for that day. Ask for clarification of this from your employer's HR department, but I've not personally heard of the circumstance you describe.

Undervalued

Sorry but I am struggling to understand what you are saying.

In employment law.....

There is nothing special about bank holidays. As you say you can be required to work.

A full time person must get at least 28 days statutory holiday per year, pro rata if part time.

An employer can totally dictate when you must take your holiday.

An employer cannot choose to pay you extra not to take your statutory holiday (except in your final pay when you leave).

If you get more than 28 days holiday (pro rata for part time) the additional holiday can have pretty much any terms and conditions attached. Such additional holiday can be "bought back".

Does that help?

LittleVoice

remyroo wrote: »

Hi. I’ve just started a p/t job at boots and have just found out that holiday is being deducted from my entitlement for bank holidays that I have worked. Apparently they pay you for the hours worked plus the equivalent annual leave therefore reducing the number of days leave you can actually take. This doesn’t seem right, I know by law you have to work a bank holiday but surely they can’t make you work and also class it as leave albeit paid.

They pay you for the time you work. So, if you work on a bank holiday, they pay you for that.

If in calculating the amount of leave you are entitled to they include bank holidays then, if you work those days, you get the time represented by that as holiday to take at another time.

There should be no change to the total amount of paid leave you can take.

Marcon

remyroo wrote: »

Hi. I’ve just started a p/t job at boots and have just found out that holiday is being deducted from my entitlement for bank holidays that I have worked. Apparently they pay you for the hours worked plus the equivalent annual leave therefore reducing the number of days leave you can actually take. This doesn’t seem right, I know by law you have to work a bank holiday but surely they can’t make you work and also class it as leave albeit paid.

How did you find this out and from whom?

Blatchford

Part-time can cover a host of working arrangements. Some part-time arrangements can make public holiday calculations complicated. Have you asked your employer how your leave is calculated and what it is? Because honestly, there are some "big names" out there who have something of a reputation for shady employment practices. Boots is not one of them. There's possibly no such thing as a "great" employer, but Boots tends to get relatively good press as an employer.

remyroo

Thanks for the replies. My leave entitlement is 18 days which includes bank holidays (pro rata). If I have to work on a bank Holiday I get paid for the days work but Boots also put it down as an annual leave day and take it from my entitlement and pay me a days leave as well so I receive double pay. I have no choice about this and therefore although I get paid for my bank holiday entitlement I am not actually able to use them as leave which doesn’t seem right.

Undervalued

remyroo wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. My leave entitlement is 18 days which includes bank holidays (pro rata). If I have to work on a bank Holiday I get paid for the days work but Boots also put it down as an annual leave day and take it from my entitlement and pay me a days leave as well so I receive double pay. I have no choice about this and therefore although I get paid for my bank holiday entitlement I am not actually able to use them as leave which doesn’t seem right.

Well I have to say that sounds quite generous!

As mentioned there is no "bank holiday entitlement", just an entitlement to 28 days leave (pro rata for part time) per year.

An employer could require a full time employee to work every single bank holiday (even Christmas Day) and insist that they take their 28 days holiday all as single days which the employer specifies! OK, they might struggle to recruit and retain staff but it would be perfectly lawful!

remyroo

The point is I can’t take them as leave!! My leave entitlement is 18 days but 5 of them will be used for bank holidays that I will WORK.

Undervalued

remyroo wrote: »

The point is I can’t take them as leave!! My leave entitlement is 18 days but 5 of them will be used for bank holidays that I will WORK.

So you are saying you get paid double for the bank holiday but a day is deducted from your 18 days holiday allocation?

So if you work five bank holidays then you only have 13 days holiday to take at other times?

What percentage of full time do you work?

As far as I can see the arrangement you describe is only lawful if you work just a little less than half the full time hours but get 18 days leave in total.

If you were exactly half time you would be entitled to 14 days statutory leave. Those days cannot be "bought back".

However if you were half time and got 19 days leave in total. 14 statutory and 5 additional, then the five additional days could be treated as you describe.

remyroo

I work 12 hours per week so less than half but as far as I am aware full time staff are treated the same.