Changes to Holiday Entitlement
The statutory holiday entitlement is changing from 1st October 2007 and again on 1st April 2009.
If you employ part-time, full-time or casual staff you need to be aware of these changes.
The new regulations provide for the additional statutory leave entitlement to be phased in gradually.
For full information on how to implement these changes/new recommendations, please refer to www.dti.gov.uk/employment/holidays—you will be able to access a ready reckoner table to help you assess/calculate the statutory entitlement for existing members of staff.
In the main it depends upon when their leave year begins and what their current contractual entitlements are as how you need implement the changes.
For example:
For an employee working full-time, five days a week the annual leave entitlement will increase to 4.8 weeks (24 days per year) from 1st October 2007 and then again in April 2009 to 5.6 weeks (28 days per year), pro rata for those working part-time. You must calculate the increases proportionally, again depending on when the leave year begins.
Please note that the total leave entitlement means annual paid holidays plus any entitlement to paid leave on bank/public holidays where these have already been given/granted in addition to the annual holiday entitlement. Otherwise, you might be able to include/count the time off for bank and public holidays in the overall entitlement if this was agreed as part of the contract of employment when engaging the employee. Again, please check the websites listed below for further interpretation.
Whenever making any changes to Contracts of Employment—we strongly recommend that you seek legal advice to ensure you are compliant with up-to-date legislation.
Useful Contacts:
ACAS 08457 47 47 47
http://www.berr.gov.uk/employment/employment-legislation/employment-guidance/page28979.html#paid_annual
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk
Information Current 19/09/2007
This factsheet is for guidance only and information may be subject to amendment.
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that information contained in this publication is accurate, no liability will be accepted for any loss, damage or inconvenience caused as a result of inaccuracy or error in the information contained in this page. Professional advice should be sought before acting upon any information contained herein.
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