Need to notify increase in holiday entitlement

Local businesses are being advised they need to inform employees in writing of their increased holiday entitlement from  1 October 2007 (up from 4. to 4.8 weeks per year) and again in April 2009 (up from 4.8 to 5.6 weeks per year).  This does not have to done by issuing a new contract of employment employees could be notified via their pay-slips.

From 1 October 2007 any holiday entitlement over 4 weeks (20 days for a five-day week, 16 days for a four-day week, etc) can be carried over into the following leave year.  However, there is no statutory right to carry leave over – it must be agreed between the employer and the worker. As a temporary measure employers can pay employees in lieu of the additional days or part days introduced on 1 October 2007.

Paid public holidays can be counted as part of the statutory 4.8 weeks holiday entitlement under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (as amended).

Annual leave should be agreed when an employee starts work.  Holiday entitlements are sometimes mentioned in job advertisements and are often discussed at a job interview.  The details of how much holiday an employee gets should be confirmed when a successful candidate receives a formal job offer.

Once an employee starts work details of holidays and holiday pay entitlement should be found in the employee’s written contracts, where there is one.

A written statement of employment particulars is required be law and must be given to employees by their employer no later than two months after the start of employment.

The document should contain sufficient details to enable the employee’s entitlement to be precisely calculated, including any entitlement to accrued holiday pay on the termination of employment.

Under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (as amended), workers (including part timers and most agency and freelance workers) have the right to:

4.8 weeks paid leave each year (from 1 October 2007).

Payment for untaken statutory leave entitlement on termination of employment (ProRata).

Statutory annual leave entitlement will increase from 4.8 weeks to 5.6 weeks (capped at 28 days) on 1 April 2009. Many workers already get contractual leave, which is more that 28 days. Their holiday entitlement will not change as a result of the amendments to the Working Time.

The first thing an employee needs to do is check their written statement or contract of employment. Is there a set start and finish date for the holiday year – for example, April to March? It not, the leave will begin:

          On the date the worker began work for the current employer, or

          1 October (the anniversary of the regulations becoming law).

If a worker starts work part way through the company’s leave year, the initial holiday entitlement is based on the period from that date until the leave year ends. In most cases, employers will calculate entitlement for a part year pro rata to the full year. So, if a worker begins work in July and the company’s leave year runs for April to March, the entitlement will be three-quarters of the full entitlement of that year.

Generally, public holidays include bank holidays, holiday by Royal Proclamation and ‘common law holidays’. When public holidays in the Christmas and New Year period fall on Saturday and Sunday, alternative week days are declared public holidays.

There is no statutory entitlement to paid leave for public holidays.

Any right to paid time off for such holidays depends on the terms of the worker’s contract.  If public holidays are not expressly covered in the contract, the right to paid leave may have built up through custom and practice.