Holiday Entitlement Rights Explained

If the only way you get through your job is by knowing that you can take a holiday, then you need to make sure your are taking your full entitlement. This is set by the government and employers must adhere. Your company may offer you a more generous package but even the stingiest boss must give you your full holiday entitlement each year.

Holiday Entitlement

Every full time worker in the UK has a minimum holiday entitlement of 4.8 weeks a year which work out as 24 days. Your employer may decide to give you more than this but every full time employee is entitled to be given this amount. In 2009 this is going to rise to 5.6 weeks a year, or 28 days. Your employer can’t give you less than this but they are allowed to control when you take it.

Holiday Years & Accruals

Generally, you must take all your allocated holiday time within the year. This may not be a calendar year and is usually set from your first day of employment. Some employers will let you carry over days that you haven’t taken into the next holiday year but you need to check what their terms are. Some employers also give out holidays by accrual when you first join the company. This means that for every month you work, you will be entitled to one twelfth of your holiday entitlement.

Bank Holidays

Most people assume that they are automatically entitled to take bank holidays off on top of their holiday entitlement. This isn’t always the case. Although most employers will let workers take these days off as extra, they don’t have to. If you take the bank holidays off, they can decide to include these days as part of your year’s holiday entitlement. There is also no law that says they have to pay you more money if you do end up working on a bank holiday.

Extra Holidays

If you have extra holidays left at the end of the year then some companies will ‘buy you out’. This means that instead of you taking the physical time off, they will pay you the extra money that you would have got. Some big companies also offer extra holidays as part of benefits package. So, for example, instead of opting for private healthcare, you can choose to have extra days off instead.

Part Time Workers

If you work on a permanent part time contract then you are entitled to the same holiday days pro rata. So for example, if you work half the time then you will get 2.4 weeks off a year. This is not the same if you are agency or casual staff when employers are not required to offer you the same amount of holiday although they do have to add holiday pay onto your wages.

As a permanent employee, whether full time or part time, you are entitled to the set holiday entitlement pro rata. You are not entitled to bank holidays, although most employers give these as extras anyway. Check what the terms of your holidays are before you sign a contract with a new employer and if they aren’t complying with the law then approach a trade union for help.