Days in Lieu V Pay for public holidays

Rochester

I am a jobsharer for many years and in the last say 5, rather than get paid for public holidays which occur when not scheduled to work, employees in my position opted for days in lieu. It is a large organisation.

Three public/bank holidays are coming up and having enquired about what days I could take I was told that it was under discussion, staff shortages were hindering the availability of days and she would revert. If they don't get back to me 14 days prior to the first bank holiday i.e. 18th March, the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 states this:

If your employer fails to respond at least 14 days before the public holiday, you are entitled to take the actual public holiday as a paid day off.

Is this at public holiday pay rates, in other words, pay that you would normally get if you were to work a public holiday/bank holiday, rather than say an ordinary working day?

Deu

You would get an extra days pay, it would be like working an extra day that week. So you get the bank holiday off and paid a normal day the same as a full time employee.

Nody

You get 1/5th of your weekly salary; that's not quite the same as a full day's pay in all cases...

Rochester

Thanks for clarifying that, a bit depressing to be battling this kind of thing with your employer.:(

Mrs OBumble

Also, I'm not sure that the 18th is a public holiday.

The 17th is, and many firms will have their day-in-lieu on the 18th. But I don't think it's required.

Mountjoy Mugger

The 18th March 2013 is being observed as a Bank Holiday.

tatli_lokma

Bank holidays are not the same as public holidays. As Mrs Obumble says, the day your company choses to offer in lieu of the public holiday (the 17th) is at their discretion. Most companies will observe the 18th as the day in lieu, but they are not obliged to. They just need to give a day in lieu within 4 weeks of the public holiday, or one of the other options listed below.

citizensinformation.ie wrote:

Public holidays falling on a weekend
Where a public holiday falls on a weekend, you do not have any automatic legal entitlement to have the next working day off work. This occurred in 2011 when Christmas Day (25 December) fell on a Sunday. It also occurred in 2012 when New Year's Day (1 January) fell on a Sunday. This means that Tuesday 27 December 2011, and Monday 2 January 2012 were not public holidays. When this happens you are entitled to one of the following:

•A paid day off within a month of the public holiday
•An additional day of annual leave
•An additional day's pay
Your employer can require you to attend work on those days