Getting paid (or not) got bank holidays on furlough leave

LittleVoice

Galaxy99 said:

I have recently returned to work after being on furlough.
The subject of holidays and bank holidays has been raised, while furloughed I was not asked if I wanted to take Bank holidays as paid leave, neither did I ask. My employer is now saying they will pay me 4 x 20% for the 4 bank holidays that occured during my period of furlough and stating that they didnt need to liase with me as my contract states the bank holidays.I have stated that I would prefer to have the 4 days as fully paid leave at some other time later in the year or carry over.
They have informed me that they will not be allowing me to have them in lieu, and that the top up payment is all I'm entitled to, I have argued that no consultation was conducted at the time of being on furlough, and therefore I am entitled to have them given back to me to take at a later date.
Can anyone throw any light on this as seems a grey area, the rules are more clear cut on accruing A/L etc.
Basically as I was not paid for them while on furlough, can my employer backtrack and try to just pay me a top up payment, several months later, or can I insist they give them back for me to take.  

They should have paid you the 20% top-up for those 4 bank holidays during your furlough period.  However, they are now proposing to pay it and you were on holiday those days if your contract mentions bank holidays. 

You therefore had notice for those days, because it was in your contract, and so you shouldn't expect to get time of in lieu as you weren't working on what would have been a non-working day in the normal course of events.

Masomnia

If your contract says 20 days (or whatever it is) plus bank holidays then I think you're on a hiding to nothing, but it may depend on your usual working patterns. Would you normally have to request the bank holidays as time off or is it just automatically assumed that you are off?

Savvy_Sue

LittleVoice said:

Galaxy99 said:

I have recently returned to work after being on furlough.
The subject of holidays and bank holidays has been raised, while furloughed I was not asked if I wanted to take Bank holidays as paid leave, neither did I ask. My employer is now saying they will pay me 4 x 20% for the 4 bank holidays that occured during my period of furlough and stating that they didnt need to liase with me as my contract states the bank holidays.I have stated that I would prefer to have the 4 days as fully paid leave at some other time later in the year or carry over.
They have informed me that they will not be allowing me to have them in lieu, and that the top up payment is all I'm entitled to, I have argued that no consultation was conducted at the time of being on furlough, and therefore I am entitled to have them given back to me to take at a later date.
Can anyone throw any light on this as seems a grey area, the rules are more clear cut on accruing A/L etc.
Basically as I was not paid for them while on furlough, can my employer backtrack and try to just pay me a top up payment, several months later, or can I insist they give them back for me to take.  

They should have paid you the 20% top-up for those 4 bank holidays during your furlough period.  However, they are now proposing to pay it and you were on holiday those days if your contract mentions bank holidays. 

You therefore had notice for those days, because it was in your contract, and so you shouldn't expect to get time of in lieu as you weren't working on what would have been a non-working day in the normal course of events.

Moreover, they have said they will not allow you to take them later in the year, presumably because they don't want you to effectively have another 4 days holiday later in the year. 

Presumably now you are back at work, they have work for you to do. 

If you really want to make a big thing about this, I'd consider joining a union and taking their advice, but I honestly don't think you'll get that far.