How are holidays defined in employment?

[lindaandrews]

I am just a student so apologise if this sounds like a silly question, however, I would like to know how holidays are defined when you are employed.

For instance, why do some people say they get “28 days paid off every year”? What does that mean? I assume they don’t mean weekends so does that mean 28 working days (Monday-Fridays) they get off every year? If so, that doesn’t seem right because it seems so low whereas at school/university students get much longer holidays and I don’t think anyone is working 48/52 weeks a year.

Can you voluntarily ask your employer to let you have a two week holiday without pay in addition to your 28 day-paid time off not in the form of a sick note but just giving up money to have time off?

Legal holiday is 5.6 weeks a year. That includes BH as they are not special in law.
So everyone is working for 46.4 weeks per year.

28 days of work, doesn't include weekends, so it maps out as 5.6 weeks off work. However I'm looking at returning to work right now and a lot of companies in my sector atm have started saying 23 or 25 days holiday (with no extra bank holidays off), and they tend to be the ones who don't pay sick pay either. I don't know how they get away with it.
Most people work 46 and a bit out of 52 weeks of the year. Even academics and postgrads don't get all those holidays off that most undergrads are given!

Edit: I couldn't seem to word what I mean about BHs today!

In the UK there’s a legal minimum for paid leave.

Annual leave is in no way comparable to the amount of holidays a child/student receives.

Some people negotiate more paid holidays with their employer, some employers give more holidays. 28 days including Bank holidays is the minimum entitlement. Some companies have shutdowns so you have to take your holiday entitlement out of that - eg an engineering company may close between Christmas and New Year as everything in their industry shuts down and it isn't economical to run so you will have to take 3 or 4 days of your 28 days then.

I think most employers will allow unpaid leave - some of our guys have done that - but I cannot afford to!!

It will be pro-rataed if you work part-time.
Not all jobs are Monday-Friday, but leave is for for working days, not non-working days.

Some places will let you buy back leave (which is basically unpaid leave when it comes down to it,) but that should be over your legal entitlement.

Some will restrict leave at particular times, such as retail at Christmas or agriculture at harvest or teachers in term time. Most organisations have some rules like restricting the number of people in a department who can be on leave at the same time. However, while they have some say over when you can or can't take leave, they shouldn't be restricting it to the point you can't take your legal entitlement within the leave year.

What does the .6 count for?

6 days?

0.6 of a week, usually 3 days if full time

There can be other types of leave, like emergency carer's leave, too, which is not holiday, but to deal with emergencies with your children or an adult you care for. And I think that's unpaid.

28 days including bank holidays is the minimum, but some employers may offer more. Where I work offers 25 plus bank holidays and you can buy an extra 5 if you want (all pro-rata if part time). You can ask for unpaid leave on top of this but they don't have to say yes unless it's something like parental leave you're legally entitled to.

For instance, why do some people say they get “28 days paid off every year”? What does that mean? I assume they don’t mean weekends so does that mean 28 working days (Monday-Fridays) they get off every year? If so, that doesn’t seem right because it seems so low whereas at school/university students get much longer holidays and I don’t think anyone is working 48/52 weeks a year

Sounds like you're in for a bit of a startle when you get a job. You can't compare school holidays to being employed. Make the most of it now I think.

There are eight bank holidays - many workplaces now let you take these days off when you choose, but traditionally you take these on the days they are (e.g. christmas day, august long weekend etc). Even if you have no flexibility on these eight days that still leaves 20 days, if you work 5 days a week that's four weeks off. Most people everywhere I've worked take two weeks in the summer, one at Christmas and one at some other time.

Yes unfortunately most people are working 46ish weeks out if 52 weeks of the year. It is hard when you have children as you are right it isn’t anywhere near the same amount as school holidays. Most people don’t request 2 weeks unpaid leave as they can’t afford it although it is possible to ask for it.

Teachers are contracted to work a certain number of days a year for which they receive a salary.

Other school staff are often paid hourly for term time only and receive holiday pay on top to ensure they receive at least NMW and statutory paid holiday.

Some employers allow employees to buy extra annual leave - this may allow you to have the extra 2 weeks off unpaid but it depends on the employer. Different employers also have different rules about when leave can be taken/minimum cover levels that might restrict more than one person taking leave at the same time.

Oh bless you. Yes 28 days is all you get in many jobs, that includes bank holidays. Some jobs give more, and some companies add extra holidays for long service. You can ask for unpaid time off, but it’s by no means guaranteed that they’ll allow it.

Yes, as others have said 28 days is the minimum. Most places will specify they want you to take the bank holidays on the correct days, so you'll have 20 days to play with - you might lose another 5 to company lockdown between Christmas-NY, and then you're left with 3 weeks 😂😭

There's a reason extra holiday/flexible hols is becoming a valued work perk. As a single parent, I genuinely couldn't survive with 28 days - we get 38 and I still struggle to cover school holidays etc.

You might find ACAS is a good place to start if you have a question about work rights and conditions.

https://www.acas.org.uk/holiday-sickness-leave

Holiday falls under the Working Time Regulations along with rest breaks.

Some employees may qualify for other types of leave due to their personal circumstances.

Some employers offer more holidays (usually you “buy” them through payroll) or unpaid leave for a wider range of reasons than the law allows for.

This is something that you can research when you’re looking for work, whether the employer offers minimum terms or provides flexibility and more time off, if that’s important to you.

I do think it’s odd that you hadn’t realised that the vast majority of people work throughout most of the year and have about 5 weeks off in a year. Don’t your family and friends have jobs where they have to plan when they can take time off?

Different employers give different amounts of annual leave, some far in excess of the statutory minimum.

My employer always worked out A/L in hours as although every full time employee worked the same number of hours per week (36hrs), there were multiple different working patterns with people working a different number of hours per day (5-day week, 4-day week, 9-day fortnight, 14-day 3-week, 19-day 4-week etc). I think our annual allowance was 216hrs.
Bank holidays were a given and not included in your annual allowance as everyone got them.
Additional paid leave was granted at managers discretion for personal reasons.
Unpaid leave was also available for those wanting to take time out for a career break, travelling etc (usually 6-12 month).

If so, that doesn’t seem right because it seems so low whereas at school/university students get much longer holidays and I don’t think anyone is working 48/52 weeks a year.

Have you really never met anyone who has worked outside a school setting? Parents, friends, relatives? Never heard anyone mention that teachers get much longer holidays than the rest of the working population?

It depends on your company and some are more generous than others

I get 25 days of annual leave + 8 bank holidays + 4 well being days + my birthday off - so total of 38 days which is 7.6 weeks as I work full time monday to friday.

Welcome to the real world.

Oh dear op.

You're in for a shock when you start work. Nowhere is going to give you anywhere close to school/college/uni holidays off work paid. Even teachers are expected to work through some of their 'holidays' and non-teaching school staff don't get paid for all the school holidays (eg 28 days off includes all bank holidays so 8 weeks a year is unpaid).

You can ask for unpaid leave, or work extra to get time off in lieu (of payment) but this would be at the employer's discretion and very uncommon for regular employee requests.

Employees can request emergency time off for things like sick kids, or boiler break down and this is generally unpaid, likewise parents can officially request parental leave (26? weeks before the child turns 18) which is unpaid and subject to employer approval.

Most folk do work 47/48 weeks a year. Enjoy your 13+ weeks holiday whilst you still can!!

And the next shock to your system will be that you are expected to work 7.5 hours a day, with a half hour in the middle of the day for lunch, that is unpaid.

So for example, start at 9.00 am and finish at 5 pm every day.

Start time is sat down at your computer with your coffee already made at 9.00 am, not wander in at 10 past, make a coffee, wait for the computer to boot up so don't actually do a stoke of work til 9.45.

And you can't put your coat on to go home til 5.00pm...

It's not called work for no reason

What about politicians? Do they work extra time?

Politicians usually do constituency work in their recess.

Sorry to shock you, but yes, you get a minimum of 28 days (including bank holidays) on a 5 day a week contract (5.6 weeks) pro-rata'd if you are part time. It's much less than you get at Uni or school!

The civil service offers 25 days + 9 bank holidays, rising to 30 days + 9 bank holidays after 5 years service. I also work flexi-hours so will often accrue an extra day off by working long days here and there. It's something you have to look at when you choose your career path.