Holiday Entitlement
From the 1st October 2007 the statutory holiday entitlement has increased from 20 days (4 weeks) to 24 days (4.8 weeks). This will be followed by a further increase to 28 days (5.6 weeks) on the 1st April 2009.
If you currently give 28 days holiday, which can include bank and public holidays, and cannot be exchanged for payment in lieu then you do not need to take any action.
If you only give 20 days holiday then you will need to increase this to 24 days, pro-rated for part time staff. As this increase is coming in on the 1st October it will mean that many employees will be entitled to part of the extra 4 days based on when their holiday year ends. For example if you run a January to December holiday year employees will be entitled to three months worth of the increase.
You can calculate exactly how much holiday an employee is entitled to by using Business Link’s interactive calculator.
The additional 4 days holiday can be bought out until the 1st April 2009, however after this date none of the full 28 days holiday will be able to be allowed to have payment in lieu.
If both the employer and employee agree then the additional 4 days holiday can also be carried over into the next holiday year.
Employers will need to notify staff in writing of any increase in holiday entitlement through a letter to staff or by a statement on pay slips, for example.
For further information on holiday entitlement visit the Business Link website.