A bit of history for you.
Government planned to increase holiday entitlement from 4 weeks to 5.6 weeks over a period of time. The first change was on 1st October 2007 when holiday entitlement increased to 4.8 weeks, then increased to 5.6 weeks on 1 April 2009.
Under the old rules employers were able to include bank holidays within the annual leave entitlement, regardless of if the worker worked those days or not. Trade unions argued that this was unfair. Some employers at that time offered 4 weeks plus bank holidays (which gives total of 28 days) whilst others offered 4 weeks from which the bank holidays were deducted.
So the Working Time Regulations were changed, so that all employees got the same statutory entitlement.
We are looking to employ a nanny three days a week Tues, Weds and Thurs. So that is 16.8 days a year of paid holiday.
Yes, 3 days x 5.6 = 16.8
This can not be rounded down but can be rounded up, so 17 days would be nice to offer.
All the bank holidays next year fall on a Monday or a Friday, which she wouldn't work for us anyway. But if one fell on a Wednesday, let's say, what do you do? Does it count as one of the 16.8?
1st January 2015 is a Thursday, that day will come out of the 16.8 day entitlement, IF you did not want them to work that day.
There is NO RIGHT to having a bank holiday off. Many people have to work on bank holidays, so there may well be nannies who have to work bank holidays due to their employer having to work.
16.8 days is 5 weeks holiday and a couple of spare days. I've seen that it tends to be we pick 2 weeks, nanny picks 2 weeks, what about the other week and 2 days?
Never really understood that myself. I wonder if the choose 2 weeks thing dates back to pre-2007. If the agreement is to choose half, then really it should be 8.4 days choice in your situation.
What I suppose happens is that nanny gets to choose 2 weeks and the employer chooses the rest. Employers can choose ALL of it, legally. However for a good relationship with employee you let them have some choice in when they take paid holiday.
So what if you only work a Monday and a Friday then? You only get 9 other days holiday? Seems a bit unfair (on the employee).
Pre-2007 they would have had (4 weeks x 2 days) 8 days. So that is entirely used up by the bank holidays.
Now in 2014, they would get (5.6 weeks x 2 days) 11.2 days. So 8 days used by bank holidays, 3.2 days that they can choose when to take off.