To think this is an unfair holiday entitlement?

[ChildOfWoe]

Started a new job this year (retail if that's relevant, so work bank hols), and think the amount of holiday entitlement I've been given is unfair / possibly illegal..

I work 20 hours per week, usually over 5 days (contract states 20
Hours working 5 from 7 days).
My holiday entitlement is 14 days, but obviously to take a single week off I need to request 5 days leave, meaning in an entire year I would only get 2 & a half weeks off
AIBU to question this?

The holiday year runs 1st May - 30th April, I started in June.

Everywhere I've looked states minimum holiday entitlement is 5.6 weeks & if you work 5 days you're entitled to 28 days holiday so not sure how this company are getting around this?

It seems they've calculated my holiday assuming I would work 2.5 days in a week (which is 14 days leave using the 2.5 x 5.6 holiday calculation ) but I don't do 2.5 days

@OhSoTotallyLost that is wrong. OP is working half of a full time job and so receives 14 full days, or 28 half days, off.

WE get hours so though I'm part time, I get 21 x 5 weeks
So yours sounds wrong? Surely should, as you say, be the same? You take a 'day' off which is eg 5 hrs and a full timer takes 7. So they get more hours holiday but you get the same amount of weeks off

Sounds most unfair

To take a week off you would book 2.5 days I would assume as you only work 2.5 days worth of hours a week. But discuss with HR

Its not wrong. OP is entitled to 28 days. Those days will be 4 hours long rather than the longer full time days

If the hours may vary week to week then your holidays should be calculated in hours rather than days or it makes it too complicated to work it out

Yes - it's 2.5 40 hour weeks.

The problem is that people understand "a day of leave" to be a full day of e.g. 7.5 or 8 hours. I think that's where a lot of confusion is coming in this thread. Yes, OP is entitled to 5.6 weeks' paid holiday but this amounts to only 14 full days or 28 half days, because she only works half of a full time week.

Your job sounds like the kind of place where they will include bank holidays in this, so keep that in mind.

Your manager is incorrect that you need to "spend" 8 hours in order to take 4 hours off. That's the problem.

@dementedpixie the hours don't vary each week , it's always 20 unless I do overtime , the days can vary, but infrequently, maybe one week out of every 5/6 I'll do the 20 hours over 3 instead of 5.

@BruceAndNoush what difference would there be if it's inclusive of bank holidays?

On what date did you start working at this new job? Could it be that the holidays you mention are paid leave, and you're entitled to more days unpaid leave this year, and will go up to fully paid days only next year (if you're still at that job by that time, that is).

If you do a different amount of hours on some days then how would they calculate how many hours a 'day ' was if you wanted a single day of holiday? That's what i meant when i said it should be calculated in hours. If you always do 4 hours a day then doing it by days woid be fine

@AlphaStation started work 25/06
my entitlement in days this year is only 12 next year it goes up to 14 when I have looked at the holiday system online.

It's counting it two different ways that's the problem and it is unfair. Do persist with this.

@dementedpixie this is the first place on retail I've worked where it's calculated in days, it doesn't make sense to me as the hours in the day can vary.

Just as another query on a similar line, how does overtime affect holiday? For example if I were to do 2-3 months of full time hours (40 hours per week) , should I accrue more holiday days?

Don't think so. If you already get 5.6 weeks worth of holidays you wouldn't get any more

Another one saying it should be hours and you are right. Re the overtime though no, unless you changed your contract to full time that would be when it would change

As others have said it sounds as though there is a problem with how the employer is understanding the rules and what a week's annual leave is. You are entitled to 5.6 weeks of annual leave. That is based on what your working week is (eg 5.6 x 20 hours)

There is a tool on gov.uk to help work out what your entitlement should be, using hours or days www.gov.uk/calculate-your-holiday-entitlement. You could show this to your employer.

It may also be worth calling ACAS for advice - 0300 123 1100.

Good luck.

Your annual leave really should be in hours because if you work more hours for a while you would acrue more leave. But obviously if you don't take any leave during the full time work you're not getting any benefit from the extra hours unless they work out a pro rata amount in hours for you. I used to do annual leave calculations for staff.

Many companies include the 8 (full) days of bank holidays in the 28 (full) days of leave that workers are entitled to. So a full time worker would get 20 days of leave plus the eight days of bank holiday. This is allowed by law.

So I would check with your company whether bank holidays will be included in your AL entitlement.

They're double counting OP's time off. So they are saying that as she is part-time she only gets half the number of days, but then they are also insisting each day she books off is treated as a full day rather than the half day she actually works.

OP, they can do one or the other but not both.

I work 27 hours a week, every morning and I get 20 days holiday and 8 bank holidays. I work Monday to Friday and work extra to cover holidays and sickness on a rota basis.

The easiest way to understand it is to multiply the number of hours you work a week (20) by 5.6. This is your total number of AL hours. Some of this figure may have to be 'spent' on bank holidays, depending on your company's policy. You should not be told to 'spend' 8 hours to get 4 hours off.

It is frustrating and misleading when people who do not understand AL entitlements post on a thread about AL entitlements.

m.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4520

@TroysMammy do you mean you get 20 mornings and the mornings of the eight BHs off?

It in confusing when people are saying "day" but do not actually mean a full day.