Anyone knowledgeable about part-time working, bank holidays and holiday allowance?

[Thurlow]

Just curious what a reasonable answer might be here while I'm waiting for HR to come back to me.

I work Tuesday-Friday. My annual leave is therefore pro-rata for 4 days working. I then get some extra days added for bank holidays, also pro-rata, so I get 5 days extra leave in lieu of the bank holidays I don't work.

As a standard our firm gives everyone a sort of "firm bank holiday" on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve so we only have to work a half day. If you were booking that day off, you would only book a half day, not a full day.

This year CE and NYE fall on a Monday.

Are those of us who don't work Mondays entitled to those extra half days leave, or is it just bad luck that we don't work on a Monday this year?

First year doing p/t hours so I honestly have no idea whether I could be ripped off of some leave, or I'm misreading the situation and therefore being an absolute cheeky fucker

Our firm does something similar, and if it falls on your day off if PT, you are entitled to a pro-rated amount added to your holiday allowance.

We usually get away early on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve but if you are not in that day, or you finish before that time (like me) you miss out. I do get all the other bank holidays pro rata though.

I work Tues-Sat. Any bank holidays that fall on a Monday go as a 'bank holiday credits' on my leave card. I can effectively just count them as additional leave days and take them when I like, as long as the bank holiday has passed.

I used to work Tuesday to Friday and was entitled to four fifths of the holiday and bank holidays that fell on a Monday.

Many places finish mid afternoon on Christmas and New Year's Eve, so a couple of hours earlier. If you don't work that day, tough, you're not at work that day, they don't make it up to you elsewhere. A bit like if they bought everyone who was in on those days pizza. If you're not at work, you don't get free pizza.

However, by not being at work on those days, you're missing out on a whole day's leave, albeit adjusted for your working week. I don't know the answer. They could say that it's informal and outside statutory obligations, so you don't qualify. But I don't know if there's anything required to make sure that part timers aren't disadvantaged?

Just bad luck as it is discretionary.

Thanks all. I can't make my mind up either! Yes it's discretionary, but it's also more formal than just being able to knock off a little early, as it's an official half day - for example if you had booked the 24th as one day as part of a long Christmas holiday, you would only need to book a half day off, you wouldn't miss out on a half day holiday just because you chose not to be in work that day, iyswim?

Where I work anything a bit formal like this should be added on pro rata. Not very helpful but just ask HR, maybe email then in a bland way outlining how you think it's dealt with and say you just wanted confirmation

I personally think you are off anyhow so just miss out on this. It’s not every year it’s dependent on what day it falls on. In addition you would only be entitled to 80% (pro-rata) of the afternoon off so I would be careful, when it falls on one of your working days theoretically you should work longer than FT employees.
Somethings aren’t worth querying.

So you're entitled to 4/5ths of the Bamk Holidays - yes? So 4/5ths of this discretionary half day... about 2.6 hours?

When everyone else buggers off on Christmas Eve on a day you're in do you stay a bit longer to make up for the fact that you're technically entitled to only 2.6 hours? How would you feel if they insisted that you did?

It opens up a whole can of worms which honestly isn't worth opening. It was queried where I used to work and god what a fall out!!!!

That's a good point about the 4/5ths of the day, so you're probably right there.

I certainly won't be surprised if HR say it doesn't apply to me, so good to hear these responses

I wouldn’t even raise it with HR......

I don't think you can complain that you aren't getting a day off when you don't work that day anyway!!