New job and holiday entitlement...

[Winter20245]

Hi

I started a new job in September. I was working term time only for 7 years which worked well with my DD and being a single parent. DD is 10 and I decided I needed a change.

We had adapted well to the change, I work 37 hours a week and use a childminder (still getting my head around holiday camps etc as I have no family support.) DD dad will help out every now and then. I work mon- thurs.

My holiday entitlement is 200 hours but all bank holidays, christmas eve, xmas day, boxing day, new years day gets taken off so by this time I am left with 110 (took 18 hours in oct half term) I find it so stressful thinking about taking time off.

I would like to take a couple weeks off in summer but want to work it the best way.

Can anyone help please and is this a normal way of holiday entitlement?

Do you have to take the bank holidays as compulsory?

If you work 37 hours then your minimum entitlement for a year would be 5.6 x 37 = 207.2 hours.

You deduct any bank holidays that fall on any of your working days, leaving you with the hours you can choose for yourself

200 hours of leave on a 37 hour week works out as 5.5 weeks a year.

That’s pretty standard amount of leave, slightly lower than some places but meets statutory minimum.

If you worked a 5 day week then your minimum would be 20 days plus equivalent of 8 bank holidays. So 28 days in total. Or 5.5 weeks based on a 5 day week.

You get yours in hours rather than days, because you work more hours per day than is ‘normal’ for leave calculations.

Leave is a pain in the arse if you work a full time job in 4 days and that includes Mondays - because a disproportionate number of bank holidays fall on a Monday and they end up taking out a lot of your leave if you can’t choose to work them.

If your normal a working day include Mondays, and leave is proving tricky for you then it’s worth thinking about either asking if you can permanently change your work pattern to not work Mondays (which will then give you more holiday days to take on your choice of date than many get) or ask if on bank holiday weeks you can work your non working day rather than book the Monday off.

Leave is commonly done in days for people who work 5 day weeks as they’re easier to think of. If you’ve got 110 hours left and you work 37 hours over 4 days then you’ve got about 12 of ‘your days’ leave left for your leave year.

37 hours over 4 days is 9.25 hours a day so you have about 12 days left after all the bank holidays. Your best bet is to try and take bank holiday weeks off so you only need to use 3 days for each week. That would get you 4 full weeks off.
Don't forget parental leave is available for emergencies if you need it but it is unpaid

Don’t forget you can also take unpaid parental leave after you’ve been there a year. So that would work for October half term next year.

Manager is really nice and said I can take unpaid leave too.

Thanks. Maybe I can try and do it so I have mondays off but not sure.

If the bank holiday falls on your non working day it shouldnt be deducted from your holiday hours so some years will be different to others depending when Christmas and New Year fall.

Ah didnt think of that!

For 2025 there are 6 bank holidays that fall on Monday to Thursday so you'd deduct 55.5 hours for them. 207.2 - 55.5 = 151.7 hours = roughly 16.4 days (of 9.25hours)

When does your holiday period run from and to?

I think its sept to sept....
mondays are my long 10hr day

My sheet says
200hrs
28/29th Oct 18hours
Christmas 24 hrs
New year 8 hrs
Easter 10 hrs
May bank holiday 20hrs
Aug bank holiday 10hrs

Remaining 110

Sorry, I work 36 hrs a week. Sorry!

They are still short changing you a little. You are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks holiday a year, which works out at 201.6 hours on a 36 hour week. And, as others have said, they must not deduct anything from your holiday entitlement for bank holidays that fall on Fridays as that is not one of your normal working days.

You can also apply for unpaid parental leave if you haven't already used it up?

That could see you through until your DD is a little order and needs less care during the school holidays.

Why does it say 24hrs for Christmas? Did you have an extra day off?

closed christmas eve so thats 8 hrs

Having your long day on Mondays and no adjustment to work pattern on bank holiday weeks will absolutely hammer your holiday.

If it would work for you then it’s definitely worth talking to your boss about working that differently in some way. Eg. Working longer days the rest of the bank holiday week so you don’t have to take as much time off for the bank holiday, or working on the bank holiday, or doing a half day on the day you’d usually be off.