Accrue holiday

hammers1970

Unfortunately I was off sick for 10 weeks earlier this year and my employer is saying that I do not accrue any holiday during this time.

Is this right?

JGB1955

See  Taking sick leave - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Sick leave and holiday

Statutory holiday entitlement is built up (accrued) while an employee is off work sick (no matter how long they’re off).

Any statutory holiday entitlement that is not used because of illness can be carried over into the next leave year. If an employee is ill just before or during their holiday, they can take it as sick leave instead.

elsien

You accrue it at the statutory right. Which may be less than your normal annual leave entitlement - presuming are employed and you’re not on a zero hours contract.

What reason has your employer given for their statement?

hammers1970

Thank you for your response, I am on a zero hours contract, but I read on the acas website that even if you are on a zero hours contract you should still accrue holiday.

General_Grant

hammers1970 said:

Thank you for your response, I am on a zero hours contract, but I read on the acas website that even if you are on a zero hours contract you should still accrue holiday.

You would have accrued holiday for the time you worked up to the start of your sickness.  Have you been paid for such holiday?

hammers1970

Thank you for your comment.

I looked through my handbook which I was given when I started and it says:

 “You’re entitled to up to 5.6 weeks annual holiday this includes bank holidays.”

it also goes on to say that holiday is accrued on all normal working hours and that your holiday pay is worked out on an average of your last 52 weeks of pay.

it does not state anywhere that if you are on long term sick you will loss your holiday entitlement to have paid holiday.

My holiday is worked out on my working year which is November to November, I went through all my wage slips and up to today I have only been paid for 13 days holiday this year. I know that I have had taken a few days which have been unpaid for.

This just doesn’t seem right, I’ve got a meeting this week and just want to be sure of everything before I go into the meeting.

Undervalued

hammers1970 said:

Thank you for your comment.

I looked through my handbook which I was given when I started and it says:

 “You’re entitled to up to 5.6 weeks annual holiday this includes bank holidays.”

it also goes on to say that holiday is accrued on all normal working hours and that your holiday pay is worked out on an average of your last 52 weeks of pay.

it does not state anywhere that if you are on long term sick you will loss your holiday entitlement to have paid holiday.

My holiday is worked out on my working year which is November to November, I went through all my wage slips and up to today I have only been paid for 13 days holiday this year. I know that I have had taken a few days which have been unpaid for.

This just doesn’t seem right, I’ve got a meeting this week and just want to be sure of everything before I go into the meeting.

Yes but that is of YOUR working weeks, not full weeks unless you always work full weeks.

So, if you only work one day a week then your holiday entitlement is 5.6 one day weeks, in other words 5.6 days pay.

The phrase "this includes bank holidays" is often misunderstood. There is no legal entitlement as such to bank holidays, not even Christmas day. If you are a full time employee and your firm closes on bank holiday then you would get 4 weeks holiday (20 days) to book and take by agreement with the remaining 1.6 weeks (8 days) accounting for the bank holidays when the firm is closed so you are forced to take holiday.

So, with a zero hour contract you holiday entitlement depends entirely on how may hours / days you have actually worked. You don't get 5.6 weeks paid holiday just for being "on the books" unless you have actually worked enough days to earn it.

Flugelhorn

I thought that if you were on a zero hours contract you only got "annual leave" for the the days you actually work - I used to get something like 12% on top of each days pay to account for the annual leave 

General_Grant

hammers1970 said:

Thank you for your comment.

I looked through my handbook which I was given when I started and it says:

 “You’re entitled to up to 5.6 weeks annual holiday this includes bank holidays.”

it also goes on to say that holiday is accrued on all normal working hours and that your holiday pay is worked out on an average of your last 52 weeks of pay.

it does not state anywhere that if you are on long term sick you will loss your holiday entitlement to have paid holiday.

My holiday is worked out on my working year which is November to November, I went through all my wage slips and up to today I have only been paid for 13 days holiday this year. I know that I have had taken a few days which have been unpaid for.

This just doesn’t seem right, I’ve got a meeting this week and just want to be sure of everything before I go into the meeting.

It doesn't need to say you don't accrue holiday when on long term sick because it says you do accrue it on "all normal working hours".  On a zero hours contract you don;t have such hours if you are off sick.

However, if you are off sick and return and take holiday, the rate of pay averaging does not include the weeks when you were off sick and did not work.  Extra prior weeks should be taken into the calculation instead.