Term time working and annual leave

TTOworker · 2020-09-01T15:19:48+00:00

Does anyone know if term time workers still accrue annual leave when off on other types of leave (sick/maternity etc)? If so how is this calculated?

ramblingsonthego · 01/09/2020 16:29

Yes you do accrue annual leave, but normally it is paid in your salary as holiday uplift pay. So for example your pay would be 15k without holiday pay and 16500 with holiday pay as normally you cannot take annual leave as you work term time.

Maternity was an anomaly where I used to work as there was no policy for TTO working and maternity so they had to pay me for the holiday I had accrued on maternity leave.

Original poster

TTOworker · 01/09/2020 17:02

Yes annual leave is paid in my salary (as it is for everyone). So I get 13 weeks leave a year, roughly half paid and half unpaid. I just want to know what happens to the paid leave entitlement if you can't take it? Do you lose it? Or can you take it at another time?

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ramblingsonthego · 01/09/2020 18:27

@TTOworker

Yes annual leave is paid in my salary (as it is for everyone). So I get 13 weeks leave a year, roughly half paid and half unpaid. I just want to know what happens to the paid leave entitlement if you can't take it? Do you lose it? Or can you take it at another time?

Where I work they will pay for any holiday accrued if off for maternity. I don't know about sick pay as that has never happened to me, but I would assume they would pay it the same as maternity.

Check any policy your work has. If not speak to payroll about it.

Original poster

TTOworker · 01/09/2020 18:59

I've spoken to HR about it and they claim I loose my paid leave entitlement, but I just don't think that can be right as everyone else can accrue it - and we have a lot of flexible workers! That just doesn't seem fair to me.

There is nothing relating to term time working in any of the HR policies, except to say you have the right to request it. The problem is I think I'm the only one to ever request it so no one seems to know how it works!

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Moondust001 · 01/09/2020 19:56

@TTOworker

Yes annual leave is paid in my salary (as it is for everyone). So I get 13 weeks leave a year, roughly half paid and half unpaid. I just want to know what happens to the paid leave entitlement if you can't take it? Do you lose it? Or can you take it at another time?

You don't get 13 weeks annual leave a year - unless you work for the best ever employer in the world!

You still accrue leave, but how that is calculated depends on factors we don't know about. You really need to ask the employer how they handle leave in the circumstances you are in.

Original poster

TTOWorker · 01/09/2020 20:16

No you're right - I get about 6 weeks paid annual leave, and I take 7 weeks unpaid But get paid in 12 equal amounts throughout the year.

So I know I don't accrue unpaid leave (obviously), but thought I would accrue the paid bit.

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Redlocks28 · 01/09/2020 20:30

Do you work in a school?

Original poster

TTOworker · 01/09/2020 20:44

No

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flowery · 02/09/2020 11:18

Yes absolutely you accrue holiday as normal. Term time workers aren’t exempt from any maternity - related entitlements, including the right to accrue annual leave and all other contractual benefits.

Original poster

TTOworker · 02/09/2020 14:54

Do you know how the amount accrued would be calculated?

It seems v complicated to work out which days of schools holiday time would be counted as unpaid, and which would be counted as annual leave entitlement.

And how do i challenge this with HR who says I don't accrue leave. Is there any guidance I can point them in the direction of (there's nothing in any of our hr policies on term time working)?

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flowery · 03/09/2020 16:06

If HR are saying there is an exception to the Working Time Regulations and the Equality Act for term time workers ask them to point you to it.

The WTR say how much holiday you get.

The Equality Act says that as a woman on maternity leave you cannot be treated less favourably than anyone else, which means you accrue benefits and annual leave as normal.

Neither of those say that normal legal requirements in respect of those things don't apply if you work term time only.

How they actually calculate it is a completely different question. Obviously while you're on maternity leave or sick leave you are not taking holiday. So they'd need to look at the rest of the year and 'allocate' your holiday to the weeks you were not working, and if you haven't taken enough time off work to cover your holiday entitlement, you'd have to take it another time.

Original poster

TTOworker · 03/09/2020 20:23

Thanks flowery

I've found some unison guidance online that recommends that employers designate which weeks are annual leave weeks and which are non paid weeks. Then there is no confusion when it comes to mat leave/sick pay or pay owed when leaving halfway through the year.
However they haven't done this, so not sure how this will be sorted out retrospectively...

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