Bank Holidays for Part-Time Workers

[ionaming]

Hiya, hope someone can help with this. I currently work 3 full days per week, so 3/5 th of a standard week. My company says that as there are 8 bank holidays per year, I have to work an extra 3 days each year(unpaid) to make up for me being part-time but still getting 8 bank holidays. Is this correct? I never had this at my previous company where I worked 4 days per week (30 hours).

From November, I will then be changing my hours to slightly more, say 25 hours per week, but spread over 5 days (5 hrs per day). They are saying I still need to make up the 3 bank holidays. Is this correct too?! I feel that as I will only be working a 5 hour day, when a bank holiday occurs I will only be benefitting from 5 hours off work (rather than 7.5 hours), so why should I have to make up the extra time? They are not paying me 7.5 hours pay on the 8 bank holidays!

Hope this makes sense & someone can let me know if my company is correct in both cases.

Thanks, Iona

this might help?

Do you normally work on a Monday (or Friday, for Good Friday)? If so, you should get that off automatically as if you have to make up extra hours but not full time staff then you would be disadvantaged.

I work Monday, Tuesday and Saturday and am entitled to all statutory bank holidays. The person I job share with works Weds, Thurs and Suns, but as she never benefits from Bank Holidays she actually receives a slightly higher salary than me in lieu.

HTH.

Thanks BH. I currently work Mon, Tues & Fri, so tend to have all BH's off - it's the christmas ones where it might change as the bank hols there can be any day of the week. I just feel I might be being shortchanged, and with having to make up 3 of the 8 bank hols, they haven't taken into account if xmas & boxing day fall on a Weds & Thurs (i.e. my days off). Will have a read of your DTI link & see if it helps.....!

I would have thought that since the work was spread over the 5 working days of the week you wouldnt have to make any time up - you would be getting the equivalent time off to anyone who worked full time across those 5 days. I work part time 20 hours across 5 days and get all the bank holidays off same as i would have when i was full time. Im not getting anything extra to the full time employees - its all pro ratad IYSWIM.

But thats just my opinion - i dont know the law or what statutory rights you may have.

I work part time and if a bank holiday fell on a day when I worked, which it did as I work Mondays, I had to take the hours off through my annual leave. In my annual leave allowance I had a Public holiday allowance.

I don't work Mondays or Fridays, but have a proportion of the set bank holidays(3/5),added to my annual leave.

When a bank holiday falls on my working day, I have to take this off as annual leave. So could be counted the same as you having to make up time,
But obviously as you will be working shorter days, you would only need to take the number of hours that you would normally work on that day.So I supose that would mean that,if you were making up the hours rather than taking leave,then you would only need to make up the number of hours that you usually work on that day.

I had to sort this out recently at work and the last two posters are correct!

We have a standard 20 days annual leave per person per annum, plus there are 7 bank holidays so that totals 27 days per year.

Whatever percentage of the working week a person works, they are entitled to that percentage of the 27 day annual leave allocation.

Therefore you take the hours that you don't work Bank Holidays out of your annual leave entitlement, or alternatively just work the Bank Holidays (nice and quiet!).

I work mondays and fridays. because I only work 2 days out of 5 I am officially only entitled to 2 out of every 5 bank holidays. The company I work for opens its doors on bank holidays but we have an easygoing manager who dosn't force me to work them and anyway they are optional for full time staff.

Thanks for all the replies!

Ok, so it looks like my company might have it right then . If I work a 25 hour week (5 hrs per day) this would work out at 2/3 of a standard 37.5 hour week. So I would have to make up two thirds of the 8 days bank holidays. Still doesn't really seem fair if I only get a 5 hour day bank holiday off - I don't get paid for a 7.5 hour day bank holiday!

No - I'm sure it's that if you're working on 3 days out of 5 you'd get 3/5 of the 8 bank holidys - i.e. almost 5 days worth. But if you're working all 5 days a week albeit shorter hours, you'd get the normal bank holidays off, if your full time colleagues do. Have a look here .

Before I went on adoption leave I worked 4 days a week, Wednesday was my day off. My company's policy was that if one of my Wednesdays off was a Bank holiday then I didn't have to make anything up, otherwise I had to work one Wednesday in the year or lose a day's holiday.

If you are working 5 days a week (but part-time) you shouldn't have to make anything up. Explain it to your HR the way that you did in your first post, because you are absolutely correct.

I work 2 days per week and have to work bank holidays if I am rostered to work when they fall for no extra pay.

Is there anyone else who does the same job as you but on a full time basis? if so ask the company how they are goin to deal with that person's leave and pay for Christmas day 2005 and News years day 2006 - both of which fall on Sunday - presumeably not a normal working day. Most companies are giving Tuesday 27th December and Monday 2nd Jan as days off in lieu respectively and if your company is also doing this then it could be unfair (in law, as well as morally) to treat you differently for bank holidays which fall on days that you don't normally work on.

In any event, from November, when you work five days a week - you definately should not be working any extra days.

good point sis!

I was rather pleased with that one myself!

Their calculations are basically right. If you pro rata-ed the bank holidays you would be entitled to 4.8 bank holidays a year - so if you actually get 8 then you do kind of owe them 3 days (but am suprised they don;t just take it out of your annual leave allowance. We have a good new system at work where we get all 8 bank holidays added to our annual leave, then we have to book them off, ifswim. It means you can work them if you like and save the leave for another time. It also means that the bhs are pro-rata-ed (I think that's a made up word)

just saw your second paragraph - I think they're wrong about that one. work it out hourly -
assume full time = 7.5 hrs/day = 37.5 hours/week. if you work ft you get 8 bank holidays ie you are entitled to 8 x 7.5 hours holiday. ie the total bank holiday entitlement in hours for a full-time worker is 60. Then pro rata it down to an equivalent of 25 hours/week :60 divided by 37.5 x 25 = 40. ie someone who works 25 hours is entitled to 40 hours bank holiday. which is 8 days of 5 hours each.

Thanks everyone, so looks like I might be being short-changed when I start working 5 x 5hr days per week?

Hatstand, just trying to get my head around your calculations......but sounds like you know what you're talking about!

BTW, I DO have the option of losing 3 days annual leave, but I would rather make up the extra time - I prefer having the 25 days hol & then working 3 extra days, than having only 22 days hol!

Hatstand, have now worked through your calculations & they make perfect sense . What I would now like is something on an employment law type site that shows this in writing! I've already argued my case with my company about the 2nd part of my original query (the 5 x 5 hr days) & they don't agree ! BadHair put a link to a site in a post further down, but this really only states that part-time workers have to be treated "fairly"!

Just had another thought

I think the way my company sees it is at the moment I work 3 FT days which works out at 22.5 hr per week. I lose 3 out of 8 bank holidays.

From Nov, when I will be doing 5 x 5hr days (25 hours), how come I'm suddenly thinking I shouldn't have to make up any bank holidays? After all, my hours will have only increased by 2.5 per week.

Hatstand, do you think your calculations are still applicable? I can see my company's point but don't know who is right ?!

I only work two days a week and always get the Bank holidays off, so sometimes I only work one day in the week!!!

I am wondering now if they will make me start working extra days too.

Also....p/t get paid pro-rata so why should we have to forsake the bank holiday as full time people get a full time wage and are not expected to work other days are they?

Does that make sense?

yes I do. Think of it another way - when you take a bank holiday off you are not having a full day off - you are taking 5 hours off. So having all 8 bank holidays is NOT equivalent to 8 days off - it's 40 hours, which is equivalent to 5 and a third days off. If someone ft is entitled to 8 days then someone who works 25 hours is entitled to 8 divided by 37.5 x 25 which equals - hey presto 5 and a third days. They are diddling you.

actually they might not be trying to diddling you - they might just have someone in hr who's being a bit thick. what sort of company do you work for, if you don;t mind me asking?

I work for a Solicitors Godloves in Leeds.

I get paid for all the bank holidays don't I? Sorry but I am useless at stuff like this.

New twist to problem - I am employed term time only, so get paid only if the bank holiday falls in term time eg:- May day. This means I dont get paid Christmas day! Have spoken to my union and this is correct!