[myvanwi]

Here is the link to the 'Holiday Entitlement Calculator':
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1079427399&r.li=1079484078&r.l1=1073858787

Also.
This was posted elsewhere some time ago. The example below is no longer valid, as holiday entitlement has since changed, but the #/fifths part still applies as a general guide.
The main thing is that your employee has set days of work. So if any of those days falls on a bank holiday, she is entitled to holiday pay. (for example: 25 - 26 December this year - but if these fell on a Saturday and Sunday, why should you have to pay for them!)
But regardless of that, she cannot demand payment from you and still keep her holidays. They are statuatory holidays for two reasons. 1. You must pay an employee holiday pay if they would normally have worked on that day. 2. The employee is entitled to take a statuatory holiday off and cannot be made to work. Simple as that. So it sounds like you did the right thing if you paid her and took it away from her holiday entitlement.

"Part time workers (prevention of less favourable treatment) EC Directive on Part time work and (amendment) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/2035)

This directive basically means.
If you have no 'full time' employees, you cannot be accused of less favourable treatment by reducing a part timers holiday entitlement.

BUT:
The guidelines indicate that you should offer part time workers a % of the statuatory holiday entitlement that a full time worker would get.
The guide amount is based on fifths of the normal entitlement.

SO:
The statuatory entitlement is 15 days per year.
If your part timer works 2 days a week, then 2 fifths of 15 days = 6 days holiday entitlement. 3 days = 3 fifths etc. (The amount of holiday pay is an average of the normal hours worked on each day)
If she demands - and you pay her for Boxing day - she loses one of her days - simple.

Part time workers have the same rights as full timers if any of their working days  normally fall onto a statuatory bank holiday. So, if she normally works Christmas day, and you don't offer her any work, then she is entitled to holiday pay if. If you do offer her work, she is entitled to normal pay + holiday pay. In other words - Double Time!"

I have just visited the Business Link site to calculate two of my employees holiday entitlements todate. Is is right that they have worked for me for 3months and they are already entitled to 48hrs holiday pay. Does this sound right to you? They work 20hrs per week.

[Fox]

I don't think that is right, I have just done a quick calculation in my head and came out with 24hrs.

24 days entitlement in 12 months - divide by four to get the three months entitlement = 6 days (assuming they are working 5 days a week 4hrs a day) = 6 x 4 =  24hrs

So don't know where you have gone as you seem to have it doubled.

Of course the above calculation is based on goverment basic entitilement only.

Fox

[Joe H]

Thats how I calcualte it as well - 24 hours (1 week 1 day every 3 months)

[garyj]

Thats strange, thought I posted yesterday that it looked like she had added the 2 together and they were due about 24 hours each.

[J. Deans]

I used the calculator for Myvanwi's question, but without exact details I have assumed some of the following:

Annual leave for the year starting: 1 January 2007.
Employee start date: 1 October 2007.
Employee hours: 20 per week.

Result: 24.2 hours to date.

Remember, when calculating the actual amount to pay, you simply divide 24.2 by the number of hours normally worked each day.

So if I can assume the 20 hours is spread over 5 days = 4 hours per day:
24.2 divided by 4 = 6.05 days @ 4 hours normal pay, as holiday pay for each day taken as a holiday.

The calculator is to ensure an employee gets the statutory minimum holiday entitlement. As it turns out, that is exactly 24 days per year for an employee working 5 days a week. So it is easier to simply give them 2 days holiday for every month of continious employment. Then the amount of holiday pay is an average of the daily hours worked during that month. Doing it this way, automatically takes into account all the variables, such as sickness, lateness etc. Saving you money!

Hope this helps.

[myvanwi]

Thankyou very much to everyone who replied. I am finding this site invaluable for the information and support it gives people.

[myvanwi]

I don't think that is right, I have just done a quick calculation in my head and came out with 24hrs.

24 days entitlement in 12 months - divide by four to get the three months entitlement = 6 days (assuming they are working 5 days a week 4hrs a day) = 6 x 4 =  24hrs

So don't know where you have gone as you seem to have it doubled.

Of course the above calculation is based on goverment basic entitilement only.

Fox

Could I just run the situation by you. The staff are contracted for 20hrs per week. They sometimes work 24hrs per week at their own request. Their normal working days were over christmas day, boxing day and new years day. We changed the rota so that the hours worked on that day where carried out by them earlier in the week. Do I have to pay them for the bank holidays in this case and do I work their hols out on 20hrs per week or an average of the last 12 weeks?

[Fox]

I would ask them if they want their holiday pay for the B/H days even though they will carry hours over, they can only take their holiday entitlement once! 

The biggest problem with this industry is that jobs will run at different times over holiday periods, I have 24 staff at present with approx half full time doing on average 6 contracts each with some of them wanting cleaning over the hols and others closed for 7 days!  It took me half a day to work out everyones entitlement!

As for the hours I would calculate their holiday pay at the contracted 20hrs unless the hours are REGULARLY over as that would then become a contract in itself, in which case you would do the 12 wk calculation. 

Fox

[J. Deans]

You still have to pay them for the hours they actually did and holiday pay if their normal days of work fall on a bank hoilday.
Unfortunately, it may have been cheaper for you to have let them work those days and paid double time (which to all intents and purposes, that is what you have done anyway) Or better still, given them as holidays and re-sheduled the work for after the holidays.

What you are asking is how much holiday pay for those 3 days?
If you are doing as I suggested and allowing 2 days per calendar month, then at most you only neeed to work out the average hours for the previous 6 weeks.
Even so, I would still split that up further.
Xmas day  and boxing day holiday pay would be from the average of hours worked during November.
New years day would be from December.
Holiday entitlement should be calculated from the previous months work.

[drive surgeon]

jesus there is a lot to think about then!!

[myvanwi]

I would ask them if they want their holiday pay for the B/H days even though they will carry hours over, they can only take their holiday entitlement once! 

The biggest problem with this industry is that jobs will run at different times over holiday periods, I have 24 staff at present with approx half full time doing on average 6 contracts each with some of them wanting cleaning over the hols and others closed for 7 days!  It took me half a day to work out everyones entitlement!

As for the hours I would calculate their holiday pay at the contracted 20hrs unless the hours are REGULARLY over as that would then become a contract in itself, in which case you would do the 12 wk calculation. 
 
I have paid them all the hours they would have worked on the bank holidays and deducted it off their holiday entitlement. Would you normally have your holiday entitlement running from january to january or from the month  they started work. Also do you do domestic work or commercial work as if it is domestic I may have a few more questions.

Fox

[Fox]

Holiday entitlement would normaly run from your year start, for example my yr start is 1st April to 31st March others run from 1st Oct to 30th Sept etc, to calculate from each employees start date for their year would be a nightmare.  When an emplyee starts calculate their hols on part year.

It is entirely ok when an employee has less than a years service just to pay for holidays they have accrued.  However if they have worked for over a year you have to pay holiday entitlement as they take it whether they have accrued it or not and if they leave before it has accrued you can then claim it back.

Eg: employee 1 - 2 months service can have 4 days paid hold
Eg: employee 2 - 14 months service but only 2 months into the new financial year, if they take two weeks hol they will be entitled to have hol pay for the full two weeks. 

Hope this is clear!  I run solely commercial work so won't be able to help on domestic side.

Fox

[J. Deans]

Drive Surgeon.
Once you get your head around it, it's not that complicated.
I find that I tend to forget the details throughout the year, but then topics like this get me thinking again.