A couple of holiday pay questions ...

[ColinJ]

My niece is upset about 2 recent holiday pay issues. I'm not actually sure what the rules are about these issues and thought that one of you might be able to help.

She works a night shift and does not work Mondays.

1. Christmas Day and New Year's Day were both Mondays. She got docked 2 days from her annual entitlement for those 'holidays'.
2. She was paid the day rate for those holidays even though she doesn't work days.

Both sounded wrong to me but I'm not sure if that is how businesses generally do things? (She is querying those decisions but I would be interested to know what you think.)

 

[Drago]

I think it'll come down to what's in her contract...

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/holiday/working-on-bank-holidays/

 

[hopless500]

I would say someone has cocked her pay up.

For a start Christmas Day and NY Day should not have been docked from her pay - she is already not being paid for them.
If her pay hadn't been incorrectly docked, there would be no need for them to then inappropriately pay a day rate instead of a night rate.

I don't work Mondays, and as such Christmas Day and NY Day were irrelevant in terms of my pay or holiday.

 

[ColinJ]

For a start Christmas Day and NY Day should not have been docked from her pay - she is already not being paid for them.
If her pay hadn't been incorrectly docked, there would be no need for them to then inappropriately pay a day rate instead of a night rate.

True, but she would like the night rate for future holidays!

I think it'll come down to what's in her contract...

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/holiday/working-on-bank-holidays/

Ah yes - the contract ...! She started work a while back but they were tardy sorting out her contract. When they finally got round to doing it they dated it from the date they handed it to her rather than when she started work and she isn't being credited for that missing time in terms of holiday entitlement.

I don't want to say what company it is but it is a UK-wide operation with a good reputation so I think this is probably due to an individual's incompetence rather than policy.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Her first port of call is to question it internally, if as you say it's a national company then it will have a HR department, ask them to explain the rationale, until you know why they did it you have no argument against them.

 

[JtB]

The way I read it was that 2 days holiday entitlement (not pay) was docked and reimbursed at the day rate. Sounds a bit odd to me under the circumstances, maybe it was an admin error.

PS. Did she take 2 other nights off in lieu of the public holidays?

 

[hopless500]

[QUOTE 5100603, member: 45"]Is that right? Shouldn't you benefit from paid Bank Holidays?[/QUOTE]
It's not a paid bank holiday. I don't work on Mondays. I don't get paid for Mondays.

 

[srw]

Having Christmas Day and New Year's Day counted as holidays sounds normal. It's the only fair way to deal with staff who don't work a normal 9-5 5 day pattern - instead of giving them 20 days holiday plus bank holidays you give them 28 days holiday including bank holidays, pro-rated to the proportion of the week they're contracted to work. If you don't do this, then people whose contracted hours are part-time including Monday get a much better deal than people whose contracted hours are part-time excluding Monday. (In the most extreme scenario, someone who only works Mondays would in 2017 get something like 7 days more holiday than someone who only works Tuesdays).

Getting day-shift rates rather than night-shift rates sounds wrong. But rather than getting upset, the sensible thing to do is to riase a polite query with HR.

 

[hopless500]

True, but she would like the night rate for future holidays!

Absolutely. But the two days they docked and paid back at a different rate were not holiday.

 

[hopless500]

[QUOTE 5100655, member: 45"]Full-time staff normally get Bank Holidays off. If your colleagues do then you should be entitled to having these days added pro-rata to your AL allocation.[/QUOTE]
They are

 

[raleighnut]

If the Holiday was docked from her entitlement and she was paid for it I'd say it was fine as long as she gets paid for the hours she did work too.

 

[smutchin]

At my last job, bank holidays were included within my statutory leave entitlement. This is common practice (and perfectly legal), so maybe she has a similar arrangement.

Full details of your rights here:
https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights

 

[hopless500]

[QUOTE 5100711, member: 45"]OK. It's just that you said that Christmas Day and NYD were irrelevant in terms of your pay and holiday.[/QUOTE]As in no holiday was taken and no payment was made.

 

[cd365]

True, but she would like the night rate for future holidays!


Ah yes - the contract ...! She started work a while back but they were tardy sorting out her contract. When they finally got round to doing it they dated it from the date they handed it to her rather than when she started work and she isn't being credited for that missing time in terms of holiday entitlement.

I don't want to say what company it is but it is a UK-wide operation with a good reputation so I think this is probably due to an individual's incompetence rather than policy.

They will be breaking the law if this is the case. She is entitled to 28 days paid holiday a year (including Bank Holidays). They can't just start her entitlement from a day to suit them. She should speak to HR/Payroll and get them to sort it.

 

[Pale Rider]

They will be breaking the law if this is the case. She is entitled to 28 days paid holiday a year (including Bank Holidays).

I suspect she isn't because she is on a part-time four day a week contract, thus holiday entitlement is reduced pro rata.