Annual Leave Problems

clairessa

I hope someone can help. I have been working since January of this year on a part time and full time basis.Had to work part time when things got quite. But I am on full time hours now for the past four months. I have calcuated all my hours completed up to last week, which come up with 995 hours. So I was thinking by the end of the year I will have reached the target of 1365 hours to get the 4 working weeks off. As I hope to be working from now till Christmas with 40 hours a week. However my manager says she is using the 8% method to calculate my hours and that just leaves me with 79.6 which is basically 8 days off. But how can she when she is only calcuating my hours up to the 7 month of the year?

In my employment we had to take good Friday, this week in July and a week at Christmas out of out holidays. So if I do have 20 days holidays (as I normally work 5 days a week) 11 days are gone out of that already so I am trying to ensure I get any more days owed. I have no contract at the moment either, so cannot refer to that. My manager uses January to December as the annual leave year.

Any advice or help would be great as I am extremly confused.

davo10

clairessa wrote: »

I hope someone can help. I have been working since January of this year on a part time and full time basis.Had to work part time when things got quite. But I am on full time hours now for the past four months. I have calcuated all my hours completed up to last week, which come up with 995 hours. So I was thinking by the end of the year I will have reached the target of 1365 hours to get the 4 working weeks off. As I hope to be working from now till Christmas with 40 hours a week. However my manager says she is using the 8% method to calculate my hours and that just leaves me with 79.6 which is basically 8 days off. But how can she when she is only calcuating my hours up to the 7 month of the year?

In my employment we had to take good Friday, this week in July and a week at Christmas out of out holidays. So if I do have 20 days holidays (as I normally work 5 days a week) 11 days are gone out of that already so I am trying to ensure I get any more days owed. I have no contract at the moment either, so cannot refer to that. My manager uses January to December as the annual leave year.

Any advice or help would be great as I am extremly confused.

As you have worked a combination of part time and full time so far this year, the 8% method of calculating leave time accrued is the most accurate.

You are entitled to holiday leave accrued, but the times at which you take them are at the discretion of your employer, most will take requests and personal circumstances into account when granting leave times.

Your employer has the right to require you to take leave at certain times, it is quite common for good Friday and the period between Christmas and new year to be those times as traditionally many businesses are closed. Equally an employer can insist that leave cannot be taken at certain times, like the lead up to Christmas in the retail and leisure sector.

You are only entitled to the leave time you have already accrued, in other words the leave accrued up to today, you are not entitled to take leave now based on the hours you might work between now and December 31.

If you have not taken all the leave due to you by December 31st, it is incumbent on your employer to make sure you do take it before year end unless it is their policy to allow you to carry unused holiday leave into next year.

Your employer is right.

therecklessone

Hi OP,

The Act that covers annual leave entitlement states that (assuming all three methods can be applied in your case) whichever of the three counting methods provides the most leave shall be the method used.

In your case I would argue that there is a reasonable expectation that you will exceed 1365 hours in the annual leave year and therefore should be entitled to 4 weeks (in your case 20 days)

It appears that by using the 8% calculation method your employer may be hedging their bets as to whether you will actually exceed that target or not, perhaps they believe they will have to place you on part time hours again? Should you exceed the 1365 hours target you will of course be entitled to the four weeks anyway. That or they have misundertsood, or are misapplying, the relevant sections of the Act.

I would be concerned that 7 months into your employment you have not been provided with a contract. That is a breach of legislation, and should be rectified immediately.

clairessa

Thank you both for your reply I found your responses so useful. I know how you mentioned that you are only entitled to holiday leave at the time at which I take the leave but I forgot to mention that our manager only allows me to take my holidays during the summer months and no holidays are allowed expect in July to August so by Christmas I should have done approx another 720 which using the 8% method give 57.6 which is 6/7 days off but at Christmas I will only get 5 days paid holidays off and my employer does not allow us to carry days from one year to the other. But if you add the hours done so far this year 995 and 720 that equals to 1715 so it is well over the requirement of 1365 so there is a surplus of at least 350 hours and even if I was to go part time I would have hours to spare (but I do not think I will be put back on part time hours).

I understand that my manage can decide when I have to take my holidays I just what to make sure I am getting all my entitlements. Also I had a contract but it went out of date in May my manger is so disorganised but I will be getting renewed and I will ensure I get one in next month.

davo10

Op, one further point, if you have worked the necessary hours to have accrued 20 days leave, you are entitled to those 20 days, if you work more than those hours, you are not entitled to any leave time over and above 20 days.

clairessa

Thanks yes I am aware that the most annual leave I will get if entitled is four working weeks or in my case 20 days

whomitconcerns

also you are not allowed carry any core days to a new taxt year...you have to take them by December 31st