Holiday Pay

slipskip

Hi,

I have a question regarding holiday pay.

I started my job in April 2014, working full time until September 2014 and part time since then (I'm in college) and I had two months off (May & June 2015) because I was sick.

I am leaving my job in a week and the *new* accountant told me I have 27 hours of holiday pay due when I leave & that I had 67 hours from last year that I can't use because I never claimed them.

Now, this is my first job and when I started nobody ever informed me of holiday pay, with the first discussion being in August 2015 with the new accountant, who was shocked that I hadn't been informed by the previous bookkeeper. I also only recieved my employee handbook from my boss a few months ago (summer 2015) because he happened to find it in the filing cabinet (this mentions my holiday pay).

Now, from what I understand, it is the employers responsibility to ensure their employee takes their holidays, but my employer never mentioned them to me, so I was clueless and have now wasted 67 hours of pay.

Even though the leave year 2014 ended, shouldn't I be entitled to those 67 hours because they never told me about holidays or tried to get me to take holidays ? I know the employer can get in trouble with NERA if they don't make employees take their holidays.

Please help, because I need to ask my boss about this and he is not pleasant when it comes to money leaving his pocket and I don't want to lose a great reference (that I've deserved) just because he doesn't want to pay me .

slipskip

NB: I never received a contract, there had been mention of one in my interview but I never received it. As I understand it, Holiday pay is a statutory entitlement and not contractual.

Youngblood.III

You should have been notified coming to end of 2014, or at least been paid for it.

Ask for their policy on carrying over days..

slipskip

Also, I have worked almost every bank holiday since starting employment but have never once received a bank holiday in lieu or whatever you call it (I mention this as I was first informed of bank holidays at the same time as holiday pay)

Youngblood.III

They've taken the piss so...its time to weigh up a good reference or go to NERA

The_Pretender

You're only entitled to holiday pay for Bank Holidays if you've worked for them at least 40 hours in the 5 weeks before the bank holidays; how many hours were you doing per week?

If you were, then what you are entiled to is outlined below:

Your entitlement to public holidays is set out in the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997. Most employees are entitled to paid leave on public holidays. One exception is part-time employees who have not worked for their employer at least 40 hours in total in the 5 weeks before the public holiday.

Employees who qualify for public holiday benefit will be entitled to one of the following:

A paid day off on the public holiday
An additional day of annual leave
An additional day's pay
A paid day off within a month of the public holiday

slipskip

The_Pretender wrote: »

You're only entitled to holiday pay for Bank Holidays if you've worked for them at least 40 hours in the 5 weeks before the bank holidays; how many hours were you doing per week?

I have always worked over 40 hours in 5 week. However, I am not so worried about the Bank holiday pay as I am about the 67hours from last year, which I think I am entitled to because I was never told to take my holidays (or even that I had a right to take them).

For the last 1.5 years I have rarely requested a day off (when I did, I would still be working a full week just with my requested day off), I have come in on short notice, with no question and have been a model employee (well as far as I can tell)

My boss was disappointed to find out I was leaving, and I told him I would stay until he didn't need me, and I waiting until the summer ended before decided to leave because I didn't want to leave him in the lurch.

You should have been notified coming to end of 2014, or at least been paid for it.

Ask for their policy on carrying over days..

I was never notified of holidays, EVER. According to peninsula it is the employers responsibility to notify of holidays not taken, and they can get in trouble for failing to do so. I certainly was not paid for it.

I think my boss just likes to avoid paying what is owed. When we have groups in and get tips they go into a collection to be given out at Christmas and I never received mine, even though the other staff did.

There is a new accountant where I work, she has only just started, (and this is a different accountant from the one who informed me about holidays (she left a few weeks ago)) and I don't think she has any clue as to what she is doing. I'm screwed.

slipskip

So, my employer saw me looking at a contract on the computer at work today and asked why I was looking at it, I said I was trying to work out holidays. He basically gave me a tough **** for last years holidays and then proceeded to make it sound like I didn't deserve my holiday pay from this year because I had been off sick.

When I was sick (for 2 months in and out of hospital) I never gave a doctors certificate because he was well aware of my condition. He said something along the line of I broke some part of my service something or other (he couldnt think of the words) while I was off and therefore I was technically not employed during that time (which is fine) but he tried to make it sound as though I didn't deserve my holiday pay from this year because of that. But holiday pay is a legal entitlement upon leaving a job so I know he's wrong about that (or I hope) so I should have recieved it a few months ago if that was the case.

I really think I am going to be screwed over in my final paycheck, because following this he said 'you know we are not a big company, like dell or something, we can't afford ...'

I am so screwed and he is awful to get money out of

Jonotti

Your are entitled to 8% of all the wages you've been paid. It doesn't matter a toss what is written in your contract.
Calculate a figure and ask them for it. NERA when they fail to pay.