Part time workers and bank holidays. Fair or unfair?

[crunchiesnuts]

I know that it’s completely legal and up to the employer, but I’m just curious about what people think about this.

I’m part of a small team (there are 7 of us in total). Everyone works full time, 5 days a week, except for one person who is part time, working 3 days a week. This person works Monday-Wednesday. When there’s a bank holiday, they switch their days and work from Tuesday to Thursday instead. Like I said, I know this is all above board and our manager is fine with it, but the rest of the team feels it’s a bit unfair since they don’t have a say and have to use their annual leave regardless.

I’m kind of torn on it. I know this person asked to work Mondays when she took the job, so it feels a bit like having the best of both worlds, but I also get not wanting to burn through almost all your annual leave just for the bank holidays. Recently, this person has mentioned how she doesn’t complain about the fact that the rest of us get more holidays and better pay (which is a bit confusing since we work more hours, so naturally, we would), but it’s stirred up some tension in the office, and I guess, some people think she’s rubbing it in their face. I’m just interested in hearing what others think. Even though it’s legal, do you see it as fair or unfair?

No they aren't. It depends on the employer. I get 30 days A/L plus 8 public. The employee gets the minimum 28 days, 8 of which are mandatory bank hoiidays.

Not in OPs workplace. They only receive the statutory entitlement of 5.6 weeks and are required to take annual leave on bank holidays

Seems like a lot of people are missing the point. If the holiday is pro rata then obviously she will be getting less bookable holiday than everyone else, but she will be getting the bank holiday within those bookable days too.
So if it's 20 days plus 8 bank hols, she will get 12 days as standard but then by moving her working day to a Thursday she won't have to use a holiday out of the 8 bank hol days and will get that back giving her 20 bookable days just like everyone else who works full time.
I personally wouldn't care but I do understand why it would cause friction. You paid annual leave is the best parts of the year. Having just left a job where we worked bank holidays so got a fully flexible 28 days holiday, to go to a job where we have forced bank hols off but only 20 bookable days. I can say that having the whole lot as bookable is much better.

Im part time Tue Wed Thu and get a few extra days of leave, to compensate for the bank holidays my full time colleagues get off, that I don't because of my working days.

😱 😡 😱 (I’m only joking please don’t come for me 😂)

Sounds more unfair on her as you

It's definitely not the norm though. Is standard if your working pattern is say Mon, Tues, Weds that any bank hols come straight out. It is why at our work they wouldn't allow Tues, Weds, Thurs as you are getting the bank holiday entitlement and then using it where you like as bank hols are generally Monday and Friday.

And imagine if the poor cow takes the Monday, gets behind and they have to pick up the slack. Poor woman wouldn’t be able to win!

I couldn’t work in such a miserable place where every little thing is computed into fair/unfair boxes. It would be like working with bratty kids.

But that's clearly not fair. Why should she get 20 bookable days? Also the full-timers are likely to have fit itheir bookable days in with her 20 days, when pro rata there should only be 12 for her.

Hi OP I work 3 days with Mon and Fri off which means I miss every bank holiday. I get an appropriate % of them back which normally works out at just over 2 days. This is added to my holiday entitlement.

The part timer won't get 20 bookable days as her holiday entitlement is 16.8 days for a 3 day week

Yabu

The part timer only gets probably about 12 days paid holiday if ft gets 20 and about 4 bank holidays.

If your so worried about it being fair (which is mad tbh) then ask employer that they use 4 days bank holiday days for bank holidays

Though im eye rolling at the pettiness

Not sure it's definitely not the norm. I've worked part time for years over multiple workplaces and have seen some of both. The one thing I'd have said definitely wasn't the norm is people not being allowed to work Tues-Wed-Thurs as a matter of principle. Never heard of that before now, anecdotally on here it always seemed to be the commonest office job part time pattern and I'm sure I read somewhere pre-covid that the traffic was worst those days for that reason.

I honestly, hand on heart, do not understand the issue. Whoever commented is a jealous arsehole who probably would love to work part time but has been denied or doesn't even have the balls to ask for it.

I get it. It’s like she’s decided it’s flexitime. A woman I used to work with did the same (though the problem was compounded by our spineless boss). She worked 4 days a week and like your colleague if a bank holiday fell on her working day, she just worked a different day. Then announced that she had something like 6 unused bank holiday days and gave herself an “extra” week off work. This was on top of other irritating chopping and changing her days whenever she felt like it. The boss was the problem though, for allowing it.

This is not a case of the part timer getting a ‘benefit’ you are not. They are working on a different working day to save them using their annual leave entitlement. The ‘equivalent’ you’re suggesting is to work on a non working day and to bank it as holiday and lieu. It would be the same as suggesting you work on a Sunday and taking a day off in the week. It is absolutely not comparable to what the P/T worker is doing.

Stop bitching about such a non issue. She works P/T which means there are other days she can work instead of the Monday. Working full time simply means you already work those days, so can’t ‘swap’ them. Simples. You can either get over it, or change to part time contract.

She gets 0.6 of the bank hol allowance so would have to take an extra 0.4 holiday for each bank holiday if made to take each Monday bank hol as leave. So if she was made to work mondays she'd have less of a say over 1.6 holiday days (just based on bank hols always on a Monday) compared to what you currently get and as a part time worker that's a bigger share of her total holiday allowance too. That's not fair either is it?

If she takes the Bank Holiday she is losing a proportion of her Annual Leave, as she only get pro-rata bank holidays, yet most fall on a Monday. That's even less fair!!!

Given that the most productive days of the office working week are Mon-Thurs and on Friday it has been known for work to at least always finish on time (whereas the part-timer can be slogging their guts out to finish up on a Wednesday to justify their existence and leave the decks clear until Monday and reduced likelyhood of progression for their efforts... I'd say the rest of your team are super hypocritically. You are getting a full time wage, full annual leave whenever you wish and all those Bank Holidays. To top it off that part-time worker is probably trying to squeeze a near full time work role and a near full time caring/cooking/cleaning role into their home life, struggling on both counts and being resented definitely at work and potentially at home for the privilege.

Fucking hell, I’ve just remembered that this woman caused a policy change across our whole business! Like 800 people because of her. Well, our because of our boss.
She manipulated her working days/bank holidays SO HARD that when she left the business she had FORTY (40) unused holiday days that they had to pay her for.

The business has now put in place a use-em or lose-em policy so you can no longer “save up” holidays if you’ve got big trips planned.

I'm not suggesting your 3-day-a-week colleague will do this.

Well, unless she thinks it’s legit to move her three days around so that she can effectively have a weeks holiday at the “cost” of only one holiday day.

Yes I now don't follow the reasoning of the poster I quoted.

But the partimer is getting 16.8 (17) bookable days when she should only have 12 bookable days. It isn't fair.

But why does it matter? If they are working their hours and don't get any extra leave. It's just taken at a different time.

It works both ways. I work part time and I am always willing to swap my days if I am required at work on my NWD for something in particular.

But then I can swap my working days for BHs or if I have something else on.

It can be really helpful for both parties to be flexible. As a manager myself, I don't mind if people move things around as long as the job gets done and service provision isn't effected.

If the part timer normally worked Tue to Thur she would have 16.8 bookable days. Would that be unfair?

You are getting a full time wage, full annual leave whenever you wish and all those Bank Holidays

The OP gets 20 days annual leave at the time of her choice and 8 mandatory days off. The partimer potentially gets 17 days off all at her choice. She should get 12 to choose and 5 mandatory.

Your team members are arseholes quite frankly. People that work part time take less money in return for potential flexibility. How pathetic for full timers to think this is an actual issue. It’s literally 4/5 times a year. 🙄

This. Thank you, eloquently put.