Holiday Entitlement During AML

[FiziWhiziLetsGetScary]

Hi

I know this has been answered on other threads but I am still confused.

Any advice gratefully received but words of one syllable would be good lol.

I've got a meeting with my line manager and HR tomorrow to sort it out.

Dates as follows:

Holiday Year is Jan - Dec
Oct - Dec 2005 OML, holidays paid out
Jan - March 2006 OML, holiday accrued at 2.5 days pcm
April - Aug 2006 AML
Sept - Dec 2006 Return to work 4 days per week, holiday accrued as normal

According to other threads I've read and my understanding of that information, I should be entitled to holiday for the period of AML at a statutory rate.

My HR said this is not our policy and asked who would pay for it anyway. I didn't know at that point but referred to the Tiger website etc.

They're not being very helpful and I don't feel well informed enough to argue my point at the moment.

TIA and sorry for repeating anything!

Fizi

afaik yes you do accural the annual leave cos you're still employed - you also get pay rises etc as well. holkd on will look up in acas for you.

www.acas.co.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1154mat info

says you can have all usual renumeration - which would include holiday pay. fwiw - my boss gave me my holiday accrulment - I took mine in advance of my maternity leave.

here sorry

that's brilliant, thanks

well, my HR dept are claiming that this document from acas is actually referring to additional parental leave which is unpaid and can be taken by either parent in any year or even every year until the child is 6.

this is so frustrating, i'm not allowed to speak to hr direct. i've been told if i still have an issue then it will have to go to the legal dept to be investigated.

talk about being stone-walled. i might ring acas tomorrow and find out.

does it matter than i'm not in a union?

Try this one from directgov then. It's quite clear that it's AML it's referring to:

What happens to your holiday entitlement when you?re on maternity leave?
You?ll still build up all your entitlements to paid holiday during ordinary maternity leave. However, unless your contract says differently, you?ll accrue only the statutory minimum (four weeks) holiday entitlement during additional maternity leave.

Unfortunately its more complicated. Original legislation said that the Statutory entitlement under the WTD of 20 days paid annual leave did continue to accrue during AML. However a case about 1 year ago of an employee on long term sick leave challenged this, and the ruling was that the right to paid annual leave did not apply during long term sickness - or technically that it did apply but you got 20 days per year of annual leave at your actual rate of pay during the sickness period, and therefore as your daily pay was 0, your rght to paid annual leave added up to a big fat 0 as well.

Some companies have decided that this principle should apply during unpaid AML, as well as during unpaid sick leave. Anyone who wishes to challenge this would have to take their case to court, and the likelihood is that it would be a long drawn out case, as there are precedents on both sides. A perfect challenge for somebody like the Maternity Alliance- but unfortunately they don't exist anymore.