Increases in Statutory Holiday Entitlement
From 1 October 2007 the Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2007 increased the statutory minimum annual holiday entitlement from 4 weeks (20 days for those working a 5 day week) to 4.8 weeks (24 days).
Employees do not have to work for a qualifying period in order to be entitled to the extra days. Paid time off does not have to be given for bank and public holidays but, if it is, employers can include this in the holiday entitlement. A list of the expected bank and public holidays for the years 2007 to 2010 can be found on the website of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Part-time workers must receive annual leave equal to 4.8 times their usual working week, regardless of what days of the week they normally work.
From 1 April 2009, all workers, including those working part-time, will be entitled to 5.6 times their usual working week – capped at a maximum of 28 days.
Increases must be calculated proportionally, depending on when your holiday year starts. Partial days can be rounded up to the nearest full day but they can be left as they are. You cannot round down a partial day.
Employees can, with the agreement of their employer, carry over some or all of the additional holiday to the following year.
You must include the additional holiday when calculating average weekly working hours.
As a transitional measure, payment in lieu of the additional holiday entitlement introduced on 1 October 2007 will be allowed to continue until 1 April 2009. This is a temporary measure intended to help employers implement the new arrangements. From 1 April 2009, payment in lieu cannot be given for any leave less than the 5.6 weeks statutory minimum.
Further information in the form of FAQs can be found here.
Employees do not have to work for a qualifying period in order to be entitled to the extra days. Paid time off does not have to be given for bank and public holidays but, if it is, employers can include this in the holiday entitlement. A list of the expected bank and public holidays for the years 2007 to 2010 can be found on the website of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Part-time workers must receive annual leave equal to 4.8 times their usual working week, regardless of what days of the week they normally work.
From 1 April 2009, all workers, including those working part-time, will be entitled to 5.6 times their usual working week – capped at a maximum of 28 days.
Increases must be calculated proportionally, depending on when your holiday year starts. Partial days can be rounded up to the nearest full day but they can be left as they are. You cannot round down a partial day.
Employees can, with the agreement of their employer, carry over some or all of the additional holiday to the following year.
You must include the additional holiday when calculating average weekly working hours.
As a transitional measure, payment in lieu of the additional holiday entitlement introduced on 1 October 2007 will be allowed to continue until 1 April 2009. This is a temporary measure intended to help employers implement the new arrangements. From 1 April 2009, payment in lieu cannot be given for any leave less than the 5.6 weeks statutory minimum.
Further information in the form of FAQs can be found here.
Interestingly, even with a minimum statutory annual leave entitlement of 28 days, the Incomes Data Services Pay Report reveals that the UK will still be near the bottom of the EU league for paid holiday entitlement.
The contents of this article are intended for general information purposes only and shall not be deemed to be, or constitute legal advice. We cannot accept responsibility for any loss as a result of acts or omissions taken in respect of this article.
