Aibu to think my Bank Holidays should be accrued through maternity leave?

[Maternityconfusion]

Hi everyone

Posting for traffic as its a bit quiet on the employment board.

I am very confused about what happens with bank Holidays when I am on maternity and I am reading mixed answers whilst doing my research.

My holiday entitlement is 5 weeks plus bank Holidays. My department works the bank Holidays (accept christmas when we close) and we therefore get the time back in leiu.

My employer has told me I don't accrue the bank Holidays whilst I am on maternity leave.

I feel like I'm being treated less favorably because I am on maternity and I thought my contractual benefits had to continue whilst on maternity leave. So if I were to get 5 weeks plus the bank Holidays in leiu whilst I was working, I should get the same whilst on maternity because I should be treated as if I was at work.

The CAB website seems to agree with me. Various other places also seem to agree and say if my contract says my leave entitlement is 25 days PLUS bank Holidays then this is what I should accrue.

However the maternity action website says

"All employees are entitled to 28 days statutory annual leave. If your employer provides 28 days annual leave, including Bank Holidays, your employer should allow you to take paid holiday at another time, as the European Court of Justice case of Gomez said that a woman is entitled to take her statutory annual leave as well as her maternity leave. This may also apply to fixed holidays that are part of your statutory annual leave entitlement but the law is not clear and you may wish to seek further advice.

If you are entitled to 28 days annual leave, plus Bank Holidays, you should check your contract or maternity policy to see if you are allowed to take Bank Holidays or fixed holidays that fall during maternity leave at another time. If your employer allows employees who are sick on a bank holiday to take a day off in lieu, they should also allow women on maternity leave to do the same, as it could be discriminatory not to."

So now I'm confused! I don't understand why I wouldn't accrue this time off. Essentially my colleagues who are not on maternity leave are getting extra days off and I am getting back less days than I would be if I wasn't in maternity yleave.

I've spoken to Acas who although made it clear that I should be getting the 5.6 minimum statutory, kind of avoided the fact that even if my employee allows me the 5.6 this is still less than what my contracts says.

The equality human rights commsion website says a similar thing to maternity action.

Can anyone shed any light? I know I have to just put this into writing to my employer but I was hoping someone might give me some hope!

Thanks for reading this far

Just had to live with the loss and move on.

Well no, if he wanted he could have claimed his annual leave back if he was signed off sick www.gov.uk/taking-sick-leave

@Andonandonan

But you don’t contractually get 13 weeks - you get 5.6 weeks which you have to take during school holidays.

I get 30 days holiday plus the 8 bank holidays and my employer is allowing me to take 38 days holiday at the end of my MAT leave.

Are there any part-timers that don't work Mondays in your company? They would still accrue the time without working the day (holiday entitlement is adjusted) so I don't see how you wouldn't accrue the time on MAT leave...

I stand corrected!

Hopefully you have a case then OP :)

I have accrued my holidays and bank holidays

If you were off sick on a bank holiday would you still get the extra day off, as you would if you were not sick, or do you forfit it? If you forfit it you won't be entitled to it during maternity, if you don't you would be entitled. That what I got from the post anyway unless I miss read it.

@merryoldgoat yes that's exactly how I thought it should be, but then why would maternity action be saying I don't get them? Surly they're the experts but then it conflicts with what the cab says.

@mossberry if poeple don't work a Monday at my work they just loose out on them. So part time workers who work Mon to Wed would get all the Monday bank Holidays back in toil but anyone working Wednesday to Friday would only get the Friday Bank Holidays.

Yes HappyParent- he should get his Annual leave cancelled and changed to sick
leave.
OP, you should definitely be paid for them if you don’t accrue the holiday!

@MoominKitty yes that's how I read it but I don't think it's right. Cab says otherwise and lots of other places say I should still get my contractual leave which is the 5 weeks plus 8.

I don't know what would happen if I was off sick, I've never had a day off sick.

Your employers only have to give 28 days. The rest is contract-based, so does your contract specifically state that you have 5.6 weeks holiday? Or does it say you work bank holidays and accrue that as annual leave? Therein lies the answer - any employer worth their salt won’t make you fight.

I got my Bank Holidays back when I went back to work. Get the exact wording on your contract and contact ACAS

What does your contract say? The wording you’ve quoted distinguishes between leave days including bank holidays and leave days plus bank holidays.

You can accrue them but no more than 28 days total annual leave unless your employer is feeling particularly generous

I had this argument with HR, I did get my holidays. I also argued that as I was going back part time I should have more holiday as the accrued holiday was based on my former full time hours, I got that too.

If someone works 3/5ths of a week they get 3/5ths bank holidays. If they don't work the days they get them as holiday in lieu. If they do normally work the days they have to take them out of their holiday allowance.

Maternity and bank holidays is slightly different. There is unclear law as to whether you get them or not. I think it won't be clarified until there has been a test case, which hasn't happened yet. employers can choose to go either way, with the issue that if they don't pay them they may be reclaimed at a later date if the law is clarified.

If part-timers who don’t work Mondays are not getting an adjustment then they are breaking the law if you are contractually paid for BH but not expected to work.

I work Tuesday to Thursday. Our standard holiday offering is 25 plus bank holidays (and 3 non-contractual over Christmas). Because I don’t work Mondays I end up with 6 weeks’ leave. My colleague works Mon to Wed and ends up with more like 4 weeks.

Is this a small company OP?

It is very confusing I agree, my work gives the bare minimum it has too so makes it a bit simpler for me to understand what I'll get haha.

Do they have a mat package or just the minimum legal mat pay? If the minimum I think they will prob only do the 28 days in honesty 😔

It must depend on individual company policy. I am a team leader in NHS and have 4 staff going on maternity leave so having been studying the policy. Our staff do not accrue BH's whole on mat leave but do continue to accrue all annual leave.

Hello, haven’t RTFT.
I work in HR and we pay our bank holidays that fall during maternity leave.
The statutory minimum for a full time worker is 20 days of holiday plus 8 bank holidays which is the 28 days. Sounds like you get 25 days plus 8 bank holidays so are beyond the statutory minimum and should therefore accrue your 25 days of holiday as usual and then have any of the the 8 bank holidays that fall during your maternity leave paid out to you.
I would email your HR or if you don’t have one, the person who replied to you and explain that you have checked and are entitled to them.
Hope that helps.

Pay out, even

@Maternityconfusion

I looked at Maternity Actions guidance.

Essentially, if they offer 28 including bank holidays they have no choice as this is the statutory minimum holiday allowance - almost as if bank holidays don’t exist.

If they offer more leave whether you get the bank holidays depends on your contract and, as far as I remember, unless your contract specifically states you don’t get BH during Mat leave they have to pay you.

However employers who pay more than the statutory minimum AL can choose to use the statutory minimum when calculating mat leave holidays and holiday when ending employment.

Bottom line, if your employer hasn’t specifically stated I’m your contract the additional days aren’t included in maternity calcs then they should be paying you.

The fact they’re fucking up the part time employees holiday too tells me they don’t really know what they’re doing.

@merryoldgoat we are a small company owned by a large well known company. Im not sure if the information I have been given is coming from internally or the wider organisation.

I just don't understand how the law can clearly say I should continue to have all my contractual benefits and leave yet not be able to accrue the bank Holidays that are clearly in my contract.

My contract says 5 weeks plus bank Holidays. But as we are open we get them back in toil instead to make up for it.

I accrued bank holidays on maternity leave