Bank holidays and part time worker

LauraAl

Hi, 
I just thought I'd get some different views on an issue at work. I have 2 children and work 3 days a week (Mon,Tues and Weds) and every 4th weekend. I then do my fair share of bank holiday Mondays throughout the year.
The ongoing argument I keep having with people at work is about Christmas this year which falls on a Friday and isn't my normal working day. We don't get paid extra for working bank holidays, that got stopped and instead we get a day off. I'm tired of having the ongoing argument which is if a bank holiday falls on my usual off day then I shouldn't have to work it, including Christmas. Whereas others think that shouldn't matter and I should work.
Is this correct? Can I refuse to work bank holidays if it's my normal day off? Others have insinuated that I get special treatment because I have kids and I'm tired of hearing it. It would be different if I got paid extra for it, I would be happy to work. 
If we work a bank holiday we get a day off in lieu, does anyone know if I'm entitled to this day off if I'm only part time? If don't work a bank holiday, it comes out of my holiday entitlement (if it falls on a working day) which is pro rata, so does it mean that if I take a lieu day that has to be classed as an annual leave day as well?

Sorry for the long message, just tired of feeling like I'm not pulling my weight! 

74jax

Why do people comment on your annual leave?  I get my leave, book what I can, it gets authorised, end off. No one else has a say but my manager. Similarly I don't comment on others.

If someone was to ask on my working pattern, I'd just say what it is, that wouldn't bother me and it's handy to know with part timers, HOWEVER if they asked again I would be inclined to say I thought I'd told you? End of. If then commented it was wrong I wouldn't continue the conversation or explain. It's not up to me to explain my terms andand conditions to a colleague.  If they are not happy they should speak to management, it is not up to you to make them understand.

Why do you feel you aren't pulling your weight? Do you think you could do more? That your skills aren't being utilised? Could you ask for more responsibility to feel you contribute more?

Or, do you mean others are 'trying' to make you feel because you aren't working a particular day you aren't pulling your weight?  In which case, if someone said that to me, I'd schedule a meeting with my manager to get thoughts on my work and outputs. I wouldn't wait till my review in case I was pulled on something I could fix now. If all was OK, then I'd either ignore the person who says it is, or ask if they want to take their comments and my workload/output further and that I was happy I contributed the same but if they weren't perhaps we should sort it. 
I couldn't / wouldn't put up with comments on a) my terms and conditions and b) my contribution to the company. 

DCFC79

OP I agree with you.
As long as management are ok with it then it shouldn't matter what others think.

TELLIT01

My wife is in a similar situation.  She has reduced her hours and no longer works Fridays.  The end of the month is particularly busy and there is an informal arrangement whereby she will work a full 5 day week and take another day off to compensate.  There is no system in place which would enable her to be paid for that day.  One person in particular, complains that my wife is getting preferential treatment because she can choose what day she has off.  The same person also complains long and hard about how busy they have been on the occasions when my wife has not been able to work at the month end.

My wife has now got to the stage where she does tell this individual that her work pattern is none of her business and, if she has a problem, take it up with her line manager.  My wife also mentions the issue at her monthly 1-2-1 meetings with her manager, and the manager is totally supportive of my wife. 

In the situation detailed by the OP, Friday is a non-working day so unless there is any system in place, similar to the one my wife has, there is no reason to feel guilty.  Christmas will fall on working days in the future, as it obviously has in the past.

LauraAl

Hi, 
Thank you for your replies. 
Because I don't work days I'm not contracted to do, I'm not doing my fair share or pulling my weight. But I am because I work bank holiday Mondays elsewhere in the year. 
Management are fine, it's the comments from the people who are younger and don't understand part time work that annoy me. They feel that they're being done over because they have to work and I don't, but that's their issue and I've said that. I'd happily work Christmas if it was on a working day of mine. 
Unfortunately I'm the sort of person that worries about what has been said. I do pull my weight and my skills are being fully utilised. 
I book my leave way a head of time so that I get what I need, which has also been commented on by the same people. 
So frustrating! I just need to stop worrying I guess. 

LauraAl

Leads onto my next question, 
If the full timers  work a bank holiday they get a day off in lieu, does anyone know if I'm entitled to this day off if I'm only part time? If I don't work a bank holiday, it comes out of my holiday entitlement (if it falls on a working day) which is pro rata, so does it mean that if I take a lieu day that has to be classed as an annual leave day as well? 

General_Grant

LauraAl said:

Leads onto my next question, 
If the full timers  work a bank holiday they get a day off in lieu, does anyone know if I'm entitled to this day off if I'm only part time? If I don't work a bank holiday, it comes out of my holiday entitlement (if it falls on a working day) which is pro rata, so does it mean that if I take a lieu day that has to be classed as an annual leave day as well? 

The full-timers get a day off in lieu because they worked when they would otherwise have had the day taken out of their entitlement: it's a case of moving their holiday to a different day.
If you don't work on a bank holiday, that is part of your holiday (if otherwise it would be a working day) and so comes off your holiday entitlement.

Savvy_Sue

I was only saying to a 4 days pw colleague earlier today, "don't think of your leave as X days annual leave plus 6.5 bank holidays, think of it as X+6.5 days leave." She (and I) don't work Thursdays, and our leave year runs from 1st May, so we both have to take 8 days to cover all the bank holidays next year (we're not open on BHs). 
Early May BH = Friday
Late May BH = Monday
August BH = Monday
Christmas Day = Friday
Boxing Day = Saturday so BH is Monday
NY Day = Friday
Good Friday
Easter Monday

Adopt the cracked record technique: my working pattern has been agreed with my manager, if you have a problem with it then speak to them. Remind them that if Christmas fell on the 4th weekend, you'd be working that weekend, but as it's not, not your problem. 

But I agree it can be hard explaining to some people how the bank holidays work for part-timers. I spent HOURS going over it with people who'd reduced to a 4 day week: they accepted that their leave entitlement reduced, but did NOT believe their BH entitlement also reduced. 

SandC

We are all told at work to consider our holiday entitlement as a total number of days. Even though full time people have all bank holidays off it makes things easier for the many people who work a shorter week and have pro rata leave to understand. So if you don't work on Fridays you do not need to use a days holiday for Xmas day, Good Friday or the moved May Bank hols this year, for example.
To be fair even those who work part time find it difficult to get their heads around so it's understandable that those on full time don't get it. 

Undervalued

LauraAl said:

Leads onto my next question, 
If the full timers  work a bank holiday they get a day off in lieu, does anyone know if I'm entitled to this day off if I'm only part time? If I don't work a bank holiday, it comes out of my holiday entitlement (if it falls on a working day) which is pro rata, so does it mean that if I take a lieu day that has to be classed as an annual leave day as well? 

The confusion arises because many people mistakenly believe that bank holidays are somehow different. In employment law they are not, they are the same as any other day. Your entitlement is XX days holiday per year. For a full time person the minimum statutory entitlement is to 5.6 weeks / 28 days holiday. If a company is shut on bank holidays then that is easy. Eight days of your holiday have been accounted for leaving 20 days to take at other times. However if the business is open on bank holidays then they are just days to be worked or taken as holiday just like any other.

If you are part time then your total statutory holiday allowance is reduced in proportion to the number of day / hours worked.

If your company gives more than the statutory minimum holiday then they can apply whatever rules they like to the extra days.

getmore4less

In employment law BH can be different if the contract says so.
Too many companies have failed to align their holidays policies with the regulation retaining BH as special, often failing to cover the various working patterns in a way that creates a consistent approach. 
Removing BH for the allowance and just working with totals would cause less confusion. 
You(or company) then just allocate the allowance  to the days you want to get paid for and not work.