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Employment Law | Holiday Entitlement.

As an employee, you have rights protected by law, one of these rights is your entitlement to holidays.


As a new employee you are entitled to five weeks and 3 days paid holiday per year, as an employer you may include the bank holidays into that figure.

This figure may change depending on several factors and the employer does have rights but also has obligations to you, this guide explains how holiday entitlement works.


It is an employee's right to time off.

Under the law an employee is entitled to holiday leave, an employer must allow this by agreement, if they do not agree and the reasons they have decline the holiday are unlawful, then the employer can be taken to a tribunal.

As a full-time employee, you are entitled to 5 weeks and 3 days' holiday, your employment contract may contain restrictions and details as to when holiday can and can't be taken, this is normally in relation to the bank holidays, any other restrictions may be unlawful.

Whilst your employer must give you the minimum permitted time off some may give more, depending on your employer and length of service, details should be available via your staff handbook, HR Department or employment contract.
If you are a new employee you may receive less leave in your first year, the amount of time is normally calculated on a pro-rata basis depending on how much time you will be employed in that year.

The amount of leave may also change if you are a part time worker this calculation is normally done on a percentage against full time e.g. if you work two days per week (40%) then your holiday entitlement will be the same, 40% of 28 days.
Do not confuse holiday allowance with any other form of time off such as medical, maternity, bereavement etc as these are all separate.


Employment Law | Holiday Entitlement.

When to take Holiday.

Best advice is to ask for your holiday as soon as possible, an employer can refuse holiday on business grounds, more often than not they will refuse because someone already has holiday over that time and they will be short staffed, so ask as soon as you can and follow the correct procedure for applying for holiday.

Pay whilst on holiday?

Holiday must include all components of your pay; this includes both guaranteed and regular non-guaranteed overtime, a payment to reflect commission if you normally receive it plus may other payments.
When you start a new job you must be given, within two months, the terms of holiday pay, called the written statement of particulars. It is illegal to pay you basic pay if your pay included other payments.

Carried forward holiday.

If you do not take your holiday it could be lost, but there are always exceptions, these can be by agreement with your employer, medical or maternity reasons. There are restrictions on how long and how much you can carry forward due to sickness; it is normally a maximum of 18 months and 4 weeks of holiday.
The best place to find information is your contract of employment or staff handbook.
If you are asked not to take holiday but carry it forward and you are happy to do so, please ensure you have this confirmed in writing.

Leaving a job.

Just in the same way as when you started, you are eligible to a percentage based on the amount of the year you have worked. If you have not taken your allowed holiday then your employer must pay you for them, but if you have taken more you must pay your employer.


If you feel your employer has breached employment law rules take advice from a solicitor, your union or the CAB.


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