Holiday Pay Entitlements Full Time Worker

colly24

Hey Everyone,

I was hoping someone could help me with some advice about holiday pay!

I started with my company on May 1st 2009. Due to the fact that we are very short staffed (recession and all that) I have only taken 1 days holidays since I commenced employment here.

With Christmas fast approaching I am wondering where I stand in regards to my holiday pay entitlements?

I work full time and a standard 40 hour week and have taken 1 days holidays this year along with 2 days sick leave.

My pay consists of a standard weekly wage along with a monthly commission cheque. ( I heard that commission/bonuses are calculated into holiday pay, is this true?

Can anyone tell me what my entitlements are? Furthermore, as I explained we are short staffed so even If i am entitled to say 10 or so days leave, I doubt that I will be able to take them all as i work in retail and we will be open mostly over the Christmas. Therefore, where do I stand if my employer cannot allow me to take my full leave entitlements?

Do i simply get paid for days I do not take or can I carry them over?

Any help would be most appreciated

Thanks in advance

gerrycollins

firstly its your employers responsibility to ensure that you take all you allotted holiday time. They cannot pay you off at the end of the year.

You can carry them forward but only into the first 6 months of the next year and with consent between both parties.

Comission is not calculated into your holiday pay(where i work) as its performance based and holiday pay is based on hours worked on a weekly basis.

It also goes back to your contract.

does it specifically quote you as a full time employee?

Do you have to have a certain amount of work time ie 6 months worked before you can apply for holidays and getting paid for them.

By my calculations you have 2 weeks of holiday at your weekly wage, accrued at year end. If you went to your HR dept they might only offer you a week. Does your employment close for the xmas period? that will quailify as your 2 weeks!

finally just ask your employer they wont bite(i think)

colly24

Thanks for the quick reply,

I haven't signed a contract which is why I am unsure as to my status regarding holiday entitlements the understanding was always that I would be a full time employee and there was never any mention of part time either during interview or throughout the last 6 months. I am the store manager so this relies on me being here pretty much all of the time:(

Similarly, I am not sure where I stand with regards to a 6 month period before claiming holiday benefits but as it has never been mentioned to me I can only assume there is no such clause in place (i will ask though)

We will be open over the holidays for the most part. The reason I am checking this now before going to my employer is to see if I can take Christmas off due to the holiday days I have built up. I wanted to know where I stand if my employer says I must work the Christmas holidays...........

Finally, by two weeks, do you mean 10 working days or 14 working days?

Thanks again

C

bbam

gerrycollins wrote: »

firstly its your employers responsibility to ensure that you take all you allotted holiday time. They cannot pay you off at the end of the year.

Nor can they just take them from you because you havent used them, I've seen this tried many times.

Sleipnir

colly24 wrote: »

Thanks for the quick reply,

I haven't signed a contract which is why I am unsure as to my status regarding holiday entitlements the understanding was always that I would be a full time employee and there was never any mention of part time either during interview or throughout the last 6 months. I am the store manager so this relies on me being here pretty much all of the time:(

Similarly, I am not sure where I stand with regards to a 6 month period before claiming holiday benefits but as it has never been mentioned to me I can only assume there is no such clause in place (i will ask though)

We will be open over the holidays for the most part. The reason I am checking this now before going to my employer is to see if I can take Christmas off due to the holiday days I have built up. I wanted to know where I stand if my employer says I must work the Christmas holidays...........

Finally, by two weeks, do you mean 10 working days or 14 working days?

Thanks again

C

A signed contract isn't neccessary, all that has to happen is that the terms of employment are given to you in writing. The statement must include details of paid leave.
If they are going to want you to work public holidays, then you can find out more here

Sleipnir

bbam wrote: »

Nor can they just take them from you because you havent used them, I've seen this tried many times.

Aye, they can't just disappear. My own company tried that.

Mrs OBumble

As a store manager in retail, you could be getting up to various fraudulent activities if you wanted to. (I'm not saying you are, just that it's possible).

If your employer has any cop-on, they should be insisting that you take at least two continuous weeks of your holiday entitlement in one go, without coming it to the store or logging into any company computer systems during that time.

Mind you, if they haven't made you sign a contract, they might not be quite this sophisticated!

Can you try talking to store-managers in other branches, to see what they know about company policy etc? Networking with peers is always a good step in preparing for meetings etc.

colly24

JustMary wrote: »

As a store manager in retail, you could be getting up to various fraudulent activities if you wanted to. (I'm not saying you are, just that it's possible).

If your employer has any cop-on, they should be insisting that you take at least two continuous weeks of your holiday entitlement in one go, without coming it to the store or logging into any company computer systems during that time.

Mind you, if they haven't made you sign a contract, they might not be quite this sophisticated!

Can you try talking to store-managers in other branches, to see what they know about company policy etc? Networking with peers is always a good step in preparing for meetings etc.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by that Mary?? As the manager of course I could get up to all sorts, but I take my job seriously and I am an honest person. How does my ability to commit fraud relate to my taking of holidays??

colly24

Sleipnir wrote: »

A signed contract isn't neccessary, all that has to happen is that the terms of employment are given to you in writing. The statement must include details of paid leave.
If they are going to want you to work public holidays, then you can find out more here

We won't be open on public holidays. I am hoping however to get the days in between off though, i.e. 27th/28th/29th/30th so I can enjoy an uninterrupted Christmas break. I was wondering where I stand if my employer insists I work these days bearing in mind I have all these holidays built up!!!

Wishbone Ash

As a rough rule of thumb you are entitled to annual leave of 8% of time worked.

You need to check whether your employer's year ends on 31/12/09 or on the first Friday in April. If it's the latter, you have plenty of time left.

Sleipnir

colly24 wrote: »

We won't be open on public holidays. I am hoping however to get the days in between off though, i.e. 27th/28th/29th/30th so I can enjoy an uninterrupted Christmas break. I was wondering where I stand if my employer insists I work these days bearing in mind I have all these holidays built up!!!

Legally, he can require you to work those days.

DubTony

Legally you're entitled to a minimum of 20 days annual leave. That's calculated at 1.67 days per month (that month being any month when you worked at least 117 hours).

If you work less than 117 hours in a given month you are entitled to 8% of hours worked.

You aren't entitled to extra holidays when you work overtime.

Wreck

Does the 20 days annual leave entitlement include public holidays (bank holidays, xmas etc) or is it 20 days plus the public holidays?

Eoin

Wreck wrote: »

Does the 20 days annual leave entitlement include public holidays (bank holidays, xmas etc) or is it 20 days plus the public holidays?

It's plus the public holidays, as I don't think you're guaranteed those days off (open to correction on the second bit though).