How do I deal with holidays?

Hi, so today’s 52 top tips is the seven of spades and it’s all about holiday. And this is one which employers hate and employees love, but it’s really, really important to get it properly communicated. 

Holiday: All full-time employees are entitled to a minimum of 28 days holiday, including public and bank holidays. The exact structure of your business will be determined by the working days and hours, shifts and rosters. All staff must be allowed to take holiday. They cannot be paid in lieu of their holiday. Holiday can be carried forward if more than the minimum is provided in a year, i.e., if you give 35 days, sorry, 33 days, then five days could be carried forward. Part-time workers are entitled to a prorated holiday entitlement.

Now getting holidays right is dictated in a large part by policy and procedure, but also by legislation. And there’s all sorts of rules around people who are on maternity. People who’ve had long term sickness absence. 

If somebody’s on holiday and they get sick, then they can have their holiday time back. Somebody’s a zero hours contract or a term time only employee, there are completely different ways in which their holiday entitlement and all pay need to be calculated. 

Make sure that when you’re taking decisions about your policies and procedures, and you’re putting contractual entitlements into someone’s contract of employment or into your employee handbook, that you understand exactly what you can and can’t do, what can be flexed up, what can be flexed down, and where the room is for manoeuvre. You don’t want to get caught out paying the wrong holiday to any of your staff.