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Legal matters

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you have any legal concerns we suggest you consult a solicitor.

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Original poster

Can they make me take holiday on Christmas Day?

47 replies

dayswithaY · 27/09/2018 17:28

Just had a letter through saying employers have made amendment to say that if your normal working day falls on 25 December then you must take it as annual leave or unpaid. This is absolutely not in my contract. Can they do this? Do i need to ask for a new contract? Have tried ringing Citizens Advice but can't get through, hoping someone here can help.

OP posts:

OliviaStabler · 27/09/2018 17:29

No sure if it is legal but a lot of places I have worked the building is simply not open on Christmas Day. You couldn't work if you wanted to unless from home.

TittyGolightly · 27/09/2018 17:30

Yes, your employer can tell you when to take holidays.

DolorestheNewt · 27/09/2018 17:33

Are you open Christmas Day, OP? Would you be able to work if you wanted to?

loadthetoad · 27/09/2018 17:35

Christmas day is a bank holiday.

Sugarhunnyicedtea · 27/09/2018 17:36

Christmas day is one of the 8 bank holidays allowed for in holiday entitlement so effectively all full time workers take it as holiday anyway.

Ylvamoon · 27/09/2018 17:37

If you are working part time - say Tuesday Wednesday Thursday- than bank holidays should be part of your pro rata holiday entitlement. Which means, if Christmas BH fall on Tuesday Wednesday you have to use some of your holidays to cover. So yes, in this case your employer can make you use some of your holiday entitlement.

CottonSock · 27/09/2018 17:38

I'm part time and have to take it as leave

cricketmum84 · 27/09/2018 17:38

As above - depends if bank holidays are included in your holiday entitlement.

Aragog · 27/09/2018 17:39

Yes, they can legally make you use holiday days on Bank Holidays.

www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/holiday/working-on-bank-holidays/

If your place of work is closed on bank holidays, your employer can make you take them as part of your annual leave entitlement.

You can choose when you take your holiday, although your employer might make you take it at certain times - for example, on bank holidays.

cricketmum84 · 27/09/2018 17:40

Bugger posted too early!!

Your contract should show your holiday entitlement as either x days plus banks or x days including banks. Christmas Day should come out of the banks part.

I manage holidays entitlements as part of my job. Where your holiday entitlement is plus banks and these aren't shown on your total entitlement then you don't need to take it as annual leave
Where your holiday entitlement is shown as including banks then yes it would need to be booked.

Namechangeforthiscancershit · 27/09/2018 17:41

It’s a bank holiday so that’s right and it doesn’t need to be in your contract. Has this not happened before?

TheCatFromOuterSpace · 27/09/2018 17:46

I'm part time and have to take bank Holidays if they fall on my working days, however we get extra annual leave to cover these, and if, like me, you don't work Mondays, then you end up better off overall.

TittyGolightly · 27/09/2018 17:55

Bank holidays have nothing to do with it. Nobody has an automatic right to bank holidays off.

Proofer · 27/09/2018 17:55

The company I work for closed between Christmas and New Year and we have to take our holidays for those days.

Original poster

dayswithaY · 27/09/2018 17:57

Thank you all for responses. It's retail so the place of work isn't open on Xmas Day. I do have to take Bank hols as leave, unpaid or choose to work. However, contract clearly states that if my place of work is closed they will pay me. Now had a letter saying you have to take it as annual leave. Contract states they have the right to make reasonable changes. Company say this letter is just "clarification" .

OP posts:

titchy · 27/09/2018 18:10

Phone Acas. Sounds like a material change to terms and conditions which they can't do without your agreement.

SpottingTheZebras · 27/09/2018 18:12

Yes, an employer has the right to dictate when you take your annual leave.

Original poster

dayswithaY · 27/09/2018 18:16

I was thinking of phoning ACAS as this just doesn't sit right with me. It says in black and white that they will pay me if any concessions are closed - perfect example being Christmas Day. We are also banned from taking annual leave in December but they can make exception for this?

OP posts:

DolorestheNewt · 27/09/2018 18:18

Do you reckon they cocked up the drafting, OP, and then sent a supplementary letter to clarify in a panic? To say that they'll pay you if a concession is closed without referring specifically to holiday pay is a bit odd, isn't it?

Original poster

dayswithaY · 27/09/2018 18:18

And this has never happened on Christmas Day before.

OP posts:

Original poster

dayswithaY · 27/09/2018 18:20

My contract is dated 2011 and the letter was sent recently plus we were all informed by line manager of this change, but it isn't in my contract.

OP posts:

DolorestheNewt · 27/09/2018 18:26

Sorry, I'm being a bit dense. If you've had a contract since 2011, and presumably you've always been closed on Xmas Day, have you always been paid for the day's work without it coming out of your holiday pay? Or have you always taken a day's holiday and you've only just realised that they may have goofed in the contract and committed themselves to paying you without it impacting holiday? What exactly has happened previously?

Original poster

dayswithaY · 27/09/2018 18:36

Previously if Xmas Day fell on a day I worked - I'm part time - then I got paid for it and have never been asked to take it as annual leave even though that is what I do on other Bank Hols. Now they've sent a letter saying "just to clarify - 25 Dec is classed as a Bank holiday so you will have to take it as annual leave and if you have no annual leave left ( which most people don't as holiday entitlement runs from Jan to Jan) then you have to take it unpaid. This is totally different to what my contact states. They've obviously spoken to their accountants and got them to save them a ton of money by not paying us on Christmas Day. If I wanted to work I couldn't as the shop is closed!

OP posts:

MaverickSnoopy · 27/09/2018 18:40

About 4 years ago DH went through a contract change at work (should have been a tupe but wasn't - long story). Anyway he had a call with a solicitor (free hour) for various reasons, one of which was to discuss a variation clause in the proposed new contract that rather generically said "can make reasonable changes" and he was told that generic variation clauses are quite weak in terms of employment law (apparently to hold up it needs to be in relation to a specific clause). How true this was, or still is I don't know, as it was never tested. So I would take advice on this point, although I don't know that I would from acas who can be pretty hit and miss.

So what you're saying is that previously you were paid for X days annual leave + bank holidays + any closure days. However, they are now clarifying that they will not pay for closure days, or just Christmas day? It does sound like an area that needs clarity given that Christmas day is a bank holiday so falls in both categories.

I could be wrong, but I THINK that through custom and practice they can't just inform you. They have set a precident by paying people in addition to bank holidays and annual leave. So to say that they are clarifying for confusion is a bit of a nonsense, considering they've already been doing it for X years. Did they not realise they were already paying people?! In my DHs case they were reliant on people not knowing their rights and he was one of the only voices who tried to resist the changes because he was informed. I THINK they need to consult and officially vary your contract, which you can either agree to or not. I THINK that if you don't sign then you do eventually move over to the new t&cs but I can't remember and you need to seek clarity on this point.

Sugarhunnyicedtea · 27/09/2018 18:40

Do you not have bank holiday days added to your annual leave entitlement?

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