Can they make you take a day holiday???

[GreatHauntieWurly]

Dh has just got an email about holidays over christmas they are closed for a total of 10 days. They arent opening on 31st December but have told all members of staff that it has to be taken as a days holiday. Surely they are not allowed to do this, what about the people that do not have any spare holiday time to take are they just meant to turn up even tho the building will be shut and locked.

Advice please??

Thanks

They can do this. The only legal entitlement people have regarding holiday is the right to 24 days off a year. A company can dictate all of these days if it wants to - lots of factories used to, or still do, shut down for the whole of August for example.

However if they are suddenly imposing this without anything similar happening before and having allowed people to take their year's entitlement already so there are no days left, that's a bit off.

Of the 10 days closure, is it only 31st Dec they are saying should be taken out of holiday entitlement? Are the other days extra days off? And what normally happens at Christmas?

Just to add, if there is no agreement about taking holiday like this, the employer can dictate that part of leave entitlement must be taken on certain dates but must give twice as much notice as the amount of leave that must be taken. iyswim.

So if an employer suddenly decides that it wants everyone to take 2 weeks, it has to give 4 weeks notice to do so.

That's not helpful to you I know, but just of interest to anyone else reading this thread with similar issues.

Is there actually anyone who has already taken their whole entitlement for the year and therefore doesn't have any days left to take on 31st Dec?

Sorry for multiple posts, keep thinking of things to ask!

thanks, sorry forgot I had posted this here. Dh called acas and they have been told that they are allowed to enforce this holiday as they have told everyone today, therefore giving plenty of notice to do so. If there are people that do not have any holiday to take to cover this day then the employer has to allow them to take it as holiday as they have been told to take it as paid holiday (if that makes sense)

yes, makes sense! Glad you got it sorted.

At our company we regularly have to save five days for Chrimbo; we are an independent school and we close down for the whole of the holidays even though normally we work all year around. If you are short by a day or two, you have to "borrow" it against the next year's holiday entitlement. I think this is fair, otherwise people would take the p*ss and run out of days on purpose.

we had 24 days, but the company told us we had to reserve 3 for xmas closure. so i think they can do it, but they should reserve the hols instead of letting them run out.

but they have never been told before that they have to save any holiday time for christmas. They get 'efficiency day' which are paid days off along with bank holidays which normally covers the christmas period but this year its not enough time.