Bank holidays entitlement - Full time

Zebra5252

I am working on a full time contract (37.5 hours) 
My hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - 8-6. Monday being my day off. 

This then means when we have bank holiday Mondays they fall on my day off. Other employees who have a different day off then only work 3 days when there is a bank holiday however I always have to work 4 days.
Previously I have raised this to HR and asked for another day off the week that this happens or a day in lieu. They have always answered that they can’t do anything about it and it ‘just the way it is’. We then agreed that my day off would be a Tuesday however they now want to change it back to a Monday and I will have the bank holiday problem again.

Is there anything I can do about this?

Undervalued

Zebra5252 said:

I am working on a full time contract (37.5 hours) 
My hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - 8-6. Monday being my day off. 

This then means when we have bank holiday Mondays they fall on my day off. Other employees who have a different day off then only work 3 days when there is a bank holiday however I always have to work 4 days.
Previously I have raised this to HR and asked for another day off the week that this happens or a day in lieu. They have always answered that they can’t do anything about it and it ‘just the way it is’. We then agreed that my day off would be a Tuesday however they now want to change it back to a Monday and I will have the bank holiday problem again.

Is there anything I can do about this?

Providing you are getting at least the statutory minimum holiday (the equivalent of 5.6 of your normal weeks as paid holiday) then probably not. It would then depend on the wording of your contract.

There is nothing special in employment law about bank holidays and no actual right to have them as holiday, not even Christmas Day. Your employer can choose when you must take your holiday, just by giving you fairly minimal notice. So if the company is shut on a BH then they have effectively told you to take that day as part of your holiday entitlement.

If however your contract says something like "25 days holiday plus bank holidays" then it gets more complicated if you don't work Mondays, as at least four BHs are always Mondays and can be up to six days in certain years.

TELLIT01

Have you moved to working 4 days per week at your request i.e. Compressed Hours or has this always been your contracted working pattern?

Brie

I would have thought you were entitled to 1/5 of your 37.5 working hours in that week or at another convenient time.  So not a full day but the majority of one.  

If you are being to made to work 37.5 hours in a week when colleagues are only required to work 30 then you are being treated unfairly and have cause to complain.  

Do you have a union that could assist?

TBagpuss

Brie said:

I would have thought you were entitled to 1/5 of your 37.5 working hours in that week or at another convenient time.  So not a full day but the majority of one.  

If you are being to made to work 37.5 hours in a week when colleagues are only required to work 30 then you are being treated unfairly and have cause to complain.  

Do you have a union that could assist?

The issue is that unfairness is not always unlawful.

If OP was being treated less favourably due to a protected characteristic, or if they were part time and being treated less well than full time employees, then it would potentially be unlawful dsicrimination, but in this case it seemsto be a unfortunate effect of not working Mondays but probaby not illegal.

OP, if you currently have Tuesday off but they want you to revert to Mondays, step one is to check your contract - does it dpeciy your working days or does it giveyou mployer the right to say which days you work. If it specifies that you work Mon, and Wed-Fri then you can decline to agree to the change to your contract or negotiatte to agree subhect to be being entitled to time off on the day following a bnk hoday, when the bank holidya falls on your non-working day.

If your contract says they can set the days then you can still sya you cdon't wsh to agree to the change but you are in a weaker position. 

Also check what your contract says about leave.Does it say a fixed number of days? Or 'x days plus bank holidays ' 

saajan_12

What does your contract say about your total holiday entitlement - eg 20 days plus BHs or 28 days or something higher? 

You are entitled to what your contract says and the standard minimum, which is 5.6 weeks as you have a non standard working pattern. If others end up with higher because they also get a higher proportion of bank holidays, then that's not really something you can argue about.