Employer claiming hours back for Bank Holidays.

[nesfulo]

Hello all,

I've mentioned on this site before under a different topic that my wife works part time in a doctors surgery and has recently come back from maternity leave.
One thing that has confused us for some time now is that if a member of staff would normally work when there is a public holiday i.e. bank holiday Mondays and the practice is closed, then that member of staff has the hours deducted from their holiday entitlement. However, those staff who do not work a Monday have extra hours credited to their holiday entilement, apparently because they are not benefiting from the public holiday. We both struggle to get our heads around this.
Yesteday, my wife asked how many hours holiday she has left for this year and was shocked to see that 60.5 hours have been deducted for public holidays, presumably while she was on maternity leave. Does this sound right to anybody, and if it is not right, can someone point us in the right direction to prove that it is not right.
Many thanks.

[leclerc]

Re: Employer claiming hours back for Bank Holidays.

What is in her contract of employment?
Some firms include holiday hours which does reduce as a result of bank holidays, ie 36 days which equates to less when Bank holidays are taken out of the equation.
Is she unhappy with where she works?
Has she looked at jobs at her local NHS ie ward clerks which might be more rewarding and provide more money?

[shamen]

Re: Employer claiming hours back for Bank Holidays.

that member of staff has the hours deducted from their holiday entitlement. However, those staff who do not work a Monday have extra hours credited to their holiday entilement, apparently because they are not benefiting from the public holiday

Cant seem to get my head around that either. If they deduct from holiday entitlement for bank holidays (which depending on the contract they may be entitled to do), I dont see why they are adding hours to other peoples holiday entitlement when they do not work mondays.

If you are all entitled to, say, X hours per year of holiday then they can deduct bank holidays from that entitlement, but to *add* hours to another entitlement because they did not benefit from the bank holiday seems counter intuitive. Are you sure that its not just the way the system 'accrues' holiday entitlement making it appear that way? Eg, at the end of the year everyone has had X hours of holiday if they worked bank holidays or not?

If the contract says bank holidays are taken out of holiday pay then theres not much can be done on that front, however as maternity leave was involved, there could be an option (see below)

Something else I notice, they are saying 60.5 hours have been taken already and you say your wife has been on maternity leave. Holiday accrues on maternity leave, but as far as I know you cannot 'use' statutory minimum holiday on maternity leave. If your wifes holiday entitlement is the statutory minimum, and *includes* bank holidays in that minimum, then if your wife was off on maternity leave and went through 3 public holidays, its my understanding they cannot take away that holiday entitlement from her as they are then giving her less than the statutory holiday entitlement. If your wifes holiday entitlement is over the statutory minimum then the employer could deduct bank holidays on maternity leave, but only to the point where her holiday entitlement then becomes the statutory minimum.

So if your wife is a full time worker, has 28 days holiday per year ( which includes bank holidays), then the employer cannot deduct bank holidays from her when she is on maternity leave. If she has more than 28 days holiday per year, they can deduct bank holidays while on maternity leave, but only down to the level of 28 days per year so she still has statutory minimum holiday entitlement. As I see your wife works part time, this figure will be pro-rated based on her hours. How many hours per week does she work?

From directgov:

You build up all your entitlements to paid holiday through all of your Statutory Maternity Leave. This is even if your employment contract says you are entitled to more than the statutory minimum.

There was also, IIRC, a ECHR judgment saying that holiday accrued on maternity leave can 'roll' into the next year, regardless of employer policy. So if your wife was off in say November 2010, any holiday accrued in november 2010 and december 2010 is also due to her when she returns from maternity leave.

This is a good read
http://www.personneltoday.com/articl...maternity.html

*edit* as is this (relative to bank holidays/maternity), though its an old article now and not sure if case law has changed

http://www.personneltoday.com/articl...ity-leave.html

Another thing to note, assuming an 8 hour work day, there have only been 48 hours of public holiday this year so far.

[WendyB]

Re: Employer claiming hours back for Bank Holidays.

I work for a bookies, who as you know, never close. Bank Holidays are counted as just an ordinary day. The only day we close is Christmas Day. Any staff who work on a Bank Hol, it's just classed as a normal day. Those who are not rotad on to work the Bank Hol, have to take it as leave out of their leave allowance. As far as Christmas day goes, we all have to take it as leave, and it comes out of our allowance, however, the allowance is upped by the relevant number of hours for this specific purpose, and then the hours are taken off. I have no idea why, but that's what happens.