Re. my holiday allowance?

[SpunBodgeSquarepants]

I started a new job last June - holiday year runs 1st January to 3st December. I work 3 days a week - 5 hours a day, totalling 15 hours a week.
My colleague works 42.5 hours a week and receives 20 days holiday. I get 7. This means I can only take 2 full weeks off per year, which is really not great for me, being a single parent. It's really difficult to find childcare during the school holidays! Am I right in thinking that this has been worked out wrong? I see where they've got this figure from - I work roughly a third of the hours my colleague does, therefore. I get a third of the holiday days too. But this would be based on full, 8.5 hour days wouldn't it?
Help!!

She is entitled to the statutory minimum.

She is getting the statutory minimum if they have given her the days in full time hours as this will be 7 x 8.5 = 60 hours or 12 days using her hours which will be four weeks i.e. same as her colleague. They don't seem to have added bank holidays onto that. If her normal days run on Monday she will get that time off anyway (and will actually do well out of it). If not she should ask them for that time to be added onto her annual leave.

I had this once , it was a complete headache but you should be given your holiday in hours not counting them as full days

Was the 7 days what you received in 2019? Your annual days off should be 12. If you worked June you dec that's an entitlement for that year of 7. This year jan to dec should be 12. I'm wondering if 7 was just lasts years?

I had this once , it was a complete headache but you should be given your holiday in hours not counting them as full days

Yes that would be much easier. I think she is entitled to 60 hours plus pro rata bank holidays.

As pp have said, you should ask for it in hours not days. It doesn't sound like your company is trying to mess you around, just an error has been made.

Use this calculator www.gov.uk/calculate-your-holiday-entitlement you are entitled to 84 hours holiday.

Just looked into my contract, I'm part time worker - 2 days a week (16 hours) and my holiday allowance is 5.6 week of my contracted hours.
And I am new employee, still on probation. So it's worth checking.

I never even received a contract when I started so I cant check!

I agree that it is a genuine mistake, they're not trying to swindle me.

Will bring it up tomorrow.

Thanks so much everyone for your help - just couldn't get my head round it!

I don’t think it matters that you only work 5 hours a day

Hmm no. Think about it with an extreme example. Let’s say you work one hour a day five days a week. That doesn’t mean you should get 28 full days as paid holiday!

I work 3 days I get 18 day annual leave.

She would get 28 days of her 1 hour days. Her 'day' is only 1 hour but she is still entitled to 28 of them as holiday

If you work fixed days it also depends on what days they are and when the bank holidays are
I’m the boss and working out my staffs hours takes me a few hours once a year
Someone working 3 days a week mon to weds compared to someone working 3 days a week wed to fri May have different allowances depending on when Xmas and Easter fall!!!

I would try asking for your holiday entitlement in hours rather than days.

Someone working 3 days a week mon to weds compared to someone working 3 days a week wed to fri May have different allowances depending on when Xmas and Easter fall!!!

Surely they'd have the same basic allowance but less choice as to when they could be taken if you are closed on a bank holiday?

Yup, it's 7 full-time equivalent days. Just point that out and remind them that since you only work 5 hour days, you'll be spreading that out over more days to get your full entitlement. It shouldn't be a problem.

She would also need bank holidays accounted for. Far easier to work it by the amount of holidays for her own length days (16.8) or to do it in hours (84)

What days do you work? You dont seem to be answering that as that really is key to your calculations. It will vary each year depending when bank hols fall.

Ask for your entitlement in hours not days, I work 24 hours a week, my holiday entitlement is in hours so if I want a week off I just book 24 hours off, works very well .

That's wrong OP. I do the same hours and I get 15 days holiday. They've mistakenly based it on 2 full days but the sounds of it.

What days do you work?

This doesn't matter at all as the total basic entitlement will be the same. If they work a monday then some of those days will be used for bank holidays leaving less choice as to when to take the others.

I had similar with my boss, he thought I should get less. I pointed out that if he got 5 weeks, why shouldn't I? Just because I work shorter hours than him, I still work 5 days a week so am entitled to the same 5 weeks a year. In your case, you work less days but are still entitled to the same allowance in weeks.

OP don't forget you start halfway through the year so you'll only be entitled to a percentage of the colleagues total annual leave allowance

It's a very small company - no HR department and no union

You don't need to be in a workplace that is unionised to be in the union.

They union will not be able to negotiate salary increases and changes to your terms and conditions etc., but you can still get advice with issues related to your work and they can still attend disciplinaries etc., with you.

You get 84 hours to include bank holidays, though your company may offer them as extra.

This doesn't matter at all as the total basic entitlement will be the same.

Yes but it makes a difference to the number of days/hours you are given annual leave each year. I don't work on Mondays or Fridays so I am given more annual leave.