How do Bank Holidays form part of my pro rata holiday entitlement?

chris_tucks

I've been working for a local supermarket and I'm due to be made redundant. I have been told that I will receive my owed holidays, which I am free to take during my notice period; otherwise, they're happy to pay me for them instead. I want to make sure that the number of days they provide me with is accurate, and that I understand the process of calculation.

After an entire day of researching my specific query, it's left me more puzzled than when I began.

My contract:

• I work full time: 5 days a week, 7.5 hours per day.
• My contract states that I will receive 25 days holiday per year, plus the Bank Holidays.
• My holiday year begins on the 1st Jan.

My redundancy and holidays:

• I have 4 weeks notice period, beginning on the 1st of May, so the last day of my notice period will be the 28th of May.
• So far, I have taken zero 'normal' holidays (non Bank Holiday) this year.
• Between the 1st Jan and 28th May there are 3 Bank Holidays, which I will have naturally benefited from.

I need to understand the number of 'normal' holiday days (non Bank Holiday) I should be entitled to, given there is no indication of how to calculate this figure within my contract.

Firstly:

• Will 0 Bank Holiday days be deducted from my allowance?
• Will 3 Bank Holiday days be deducted from my allowance? (being the statutory 28 minus my 'normal' 25 days)
• Will 3 (different) Bank Holiday days be deducted from my allowance? (this time being the spent holidays by the 28th of May)
• Will 8 Bank Holiday days be deducted from my allowance? (being the total number of Bank Holidays in a year)

Secondly, what will my pro rata allowance actually be out of:

• 25 (normal holidays)
• 28 (statutory holidays)
• 33 (25 normal days plus all 8 Bank Holidays)

Finally, how many days should I be entitled to, beyond the Bank Holidays?

Even when applying my figures into the .gov website, it states the following: "The employer can include bank and public holidays as part of the statutory entitlement." This tells me that I need to be digging deeper to find my true figure, but it certainly doesn't provide much detail behind the comment.

Thank you all,

Chris

getmore4less

4 BH 
NY
Easter (2)
Early May.

How many did you get paid for?

33 prorata would be 21/52 ~ 13.33days

Take off any days paid.

Username03725

5 completed months = 10.4 days, so you should be paid for 10.5 days accrued by the end of May

7.5 hrs per day @ let's pick £10 per hour = £75 per day.

75 x 10.5 = £787.50. Take off tax & NICs (approx £175) = £612 and that's what you should see in your final payslip. Adjust per your actual hourly rate.

Username03725

My contract states that I will receive 25 days holiday per year, plus the Bank Holidays

That's the important bit. You accrue holidays at 2.08 days per month, and Bank Holidays aren't part of that accrual. By the end of May you'll have 10.4 days due to you, which should round up to 10.5 but that depends on your employer.

The four Bank Holidays that will have passed by May 28th have been used, so exclude those. Likewise the ones that follow are outside of your employment and as per contract are not part of your monthly accrual, so you can ignore those too.

That just leaves the 10.5 days that you've earned but not used, so will be paid for as above.

General_Grant

Your actual holiday entitlement for a full year is 33 (25 + 8).  It is simply that your employer has given you notice of when those particular holidays are to be taken, otherwise there is no difference.

So you simply calculate  the proportion of the year to the date of your termination which is 148/365 = 40.55% (to 2 dp).
33 days x 0.4055 = 13.38 days

You will have had 4 bank holidays up to 28 May.  So you should be paid 9.38 days when you leave if you have taken no other holiday.  They may round this up to 9.4, 9.5 or 10 days.

Username03725

Have checked how my employer does this, as we are also in this ongoing process as we speak.

Bank Holidays are deemed to accrue as they fall, and are outside the calculation of n days entitlement divided by completed months service this year therefore (in my case) the monthly accrual for 25 days is 2.08 days = 10.4 days due by the end of May.

It does appear that the decision varies by employer so the only sure way to know is to check with your HR dept to get their position on it.

getmore4less

The can't do that if the accrued results in a lower amount that statutory rules would give you.

Username03725

Acc to ACAS (just spoke to them) it depends on the exact wording of the contract, including whether or not the holidays are statutory or contractual, and whether the Bank Holidays are included in that or additional to, and in part if they are wholly included in the statutory minimum of 5.6 weeks. If your place of employment closes on BHs that's also a factor, but a supermarket doesn't.

Without having visibility of mine and the rest of my cohort's contracts the ACAS rep was unable to give a definitive reply, but did suggest getting legal advice to clarify it.

To the OP - a couple of general points.

Have you asked about leaving under a mutual settlement agreement? If available this bypasses the consultation period and removes the possibility of you taking any future action over your dismissal, but in return you should be offered an additional tax free sum over & above your expected final payments (salary, accrued holidays, redundancy payment).

If you go down this path your employer should fund a qualified legal person to go over the agreement with you to make sure you fully understand it - this would be a good time to check holiday entitlement. It might not be worth arguing over a £20 difference for a multi-thousand pay-off, but that's up to each individual to decide.

Are you part of a larger group being made redundant? If yes and that's 20 or more you should have nominated at least 1 group rep to act as a voice with your management team.

Thrugelmir

Normally bank holidays are statutory rather than contractual. As on occasions additional days are granted for one off Royal events. 

getmore4less

Bank holidays are not part of the relevant employment laws for statutory holidays,



They are always contractual.

Andy_L

Thrugelmir said:

Normally bank holidays are statutory rather than contractual. As on occasions additional days are granted for one off Royal events. 

whether you get the extra bank holidays depends on the wording of your contract. If it says" plus 8 days bank holidays" you dont get them, if it just says "plus bank holidays"  you do.