Any Employment Law buffs/Union people?

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

I have a wee problem at work.

The holiday arrangements are as follows at my terrible, and stingy employer. The statutory 4 weeks per year plus bank holidays paid.

If they require you to work a bank holiday, they pay you normal rate, and you earn a day off in Lieu.

Now, on Sunday night just gone, my Auntie passed away. I wasn’t that upset about it, but my Mum, who was on her own, was. I decided to take the day off on Monday (Bank Holiday) to comfort her, as any good son would do, I’m sure.

Went in today, found out they’re not going to pay the shift (fair enough), and also not going to pay the bank holiday money because I was “sick”. Further to that, I found they had allocated a “Compulsory” lieu day for Sunday, which I would have earned Monday, had I worked.

So, in short, I’m losing three days pay this week, because I had one day off. This strikes me as just a little bit bad, an I’m thinking that it might not sit right with the law either.

What right do they have to stop a bank holiday payment because I told them I was unavailable for work?

and

What right do they have to try and force me to take Lieu days?

I really think this stinks, my Employer is treating me like an animal.

2

if your contract of employment says that you are entitled to bank holiday then they should pay you for it.

If they do not then they are breaking the contract

3

They are in the wrong, they cant refuse to pay you bank holiday as your legally entitled to it.

Was Sunday meant to be a working day? If not they cannot deduct money because you did not work it.

In a Nutshell, everyone is entitles to time off for family bereavement, it’s the bosses decision whether its paid or not, but they cannot penalise you for taking berevement leave Its against the Law.

They could be awkward and ask you to prove the Berevement but thats another issue, and of course the bill from the undertakers would prove them wrong.

4

Thanks for the quick replies.

Sunday is the Lieu day which was forced on me if I had worked Monday (Bank Holiday). Since I did not work on the Bank holiday when rota’d to do it, I have not earned a lieu day, so can’t be paid for it.

And, under “Company rules” if anyone is absent on the day of the bank holiday, they forfeit the right to be paid for the Public Holiday.

Hope that clarifies.

5

If the above is written into your contract, then they are in the right. Sorry.

6

Sunday is the Lieu day which was forced on me if I had worked Monday (Bank Holiday). Since I did not work on the Bank holiday when rota’d to do it, I have not earned a lieu day, so can’t be paid for it.

Do I assume that sunday would have been a normal paid working day for you and that was why they were going to give you that day off in lieu :question:

7

Davey Driver:
They are in the wrong, they cant refuse to pay you bank holiday as your legally entitled to it.

Is the wrong answer. Up to the recent change, there was no entitlement to paid bank holidays at all. Now there are 4 but it doesn’t specify which and many companies simply allow you 24 days you can take whenever rather than haivng paid BHs.

8

An employee is entitled to be paid for a bank holiday.
but it doesn’t have to be a bank holiday!!!
an employer has to give a worker a day off for a bank holiday but it can be a different day to the actual holiday.
If memory is correct this applies to 8 days per year and can be included in the contracted annual hols.
For example, a boss can tell you to work Xmas day and give you January the 15 th in lieu (unless your personal contract states different).
Doesn’t help with the original question but is interesting.

9

He might be able to tell me to work on X-Mas day Del-Boy.
He’d better not expect me to turn up tho’.

10

Simon , xmas day that gets you away from the new grandchildren.

11

i might be reading this wrong after a good saturday night,
am I correct in saying that the lieu day for the monday bank hol was used for the Sunday before the bank hol??
if so I had a similar prob at a previous employment, argues against this and it came that they cannot use a lieu day given for a bank hol (or similar) prior to you working that bank hol,

12

I have re-read your question and

What right do they have to stop a bank holiday payment because I told them I was unavailable for work?

I cannot see that you not being available to work on a Bank Holiday gives them any right to withhold payment for it, unless you had been told that you were required to work previously.
As far as I understand the law they have to pay you for 8 bank holidays in a year. But not neccessarily the bank hols that the country recognises.

As far as the Sunday, was it a “normal” working day for you.
Assuming that it was and you didn’t work , then I would think that losing a days wage was fair. Can’t see why they would need/want to apply a lieu day to this.
Missing Monday would lose a days wage plus the premium for working it (a lieu day in your case) thus 2 days wages gone anyway, but don’t understand the sunday business.

direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/ … G_10029788

this MAY be of some use

13

ah i need some help now… i dont get bank holidays off at my work and i only get paid the normal shift no extras…is this leagal?? :bulb:

14

your boss has a legal obligation to pay you for 8 (I think)bank holidays each year.
BUT, he doesn’t have to give you the exact days off, i.e. Easter Monday, he can give you a different day if he chooses, nor does he have to pay double time for example.(unless your contract states different)

ALSO, he can include bank holidays in with your statutory annual holidays.

The artical I am reading here says that " the statutory minmum has been increased to 24 days per year, from april1 2009 it goes up to 28 days"

Can’t find the relevant bit, but am fairly certain that this 24 days can include the 8 bank holidays.

The artical does say “although the recent statutory changes to holiday entitlement are designed to allow employeesto benefit from the eight bank holidays there is no entitlement for taking holidays on these specific days.”
the link I posted in the last post should have some hard info on this.

15

s56.photobucket.com/albums/g169/ … tlarge.jpg

this is the article I was reading, if it is large enough to read!!

16

Conor:

Davey Driver:
They are in the wrong, they cant refuse to pay you bank holiday as your legally entitled to it.

Is the wrong answer.

Sorry Conor

But the law states you are entitled to 24 days holidays per annum (It’s 28 if you work 6 days per week) the Employer can include the Bank holidays in the holiday entitlement if they wish or they can add the bank holiday entitlement as extra.

Failing to work a Bank Holiday cannot be used to penalise you financially as it has obviously happened in this case.

The Employer should be ashamed of himself anyway for penalising an employee financially for a bereavement. A Proper employer would have measures in place to cover such emergencies.

17

davey driver,
ihave had another look and I cannot see anything about 6day workers being entitiled to 28 days.

]

The minimum holiday entitlement has increased. If your holiday year (sometimes called a leave year) starts on or after 1 October 2007 the legal minimum is 4.8 weeks a year (24 days if you work a five day week); there is no statutory right to get bank holidays on top of this. If you have a holiday year that does not start in October you will be entitled to a proportion of the additional days.

Your employer may give you more than the minimum 4.8 weeks leave as part of your terms of employment. You can check how much leave you are allowed by referring to your contract or company handbook.

You have no right to additional holiday, even if it’s unpaid, unless your contract provides for it. Your employer can set their own rules on any holidays they give over and above the legal minimum. Your employer is not allowed to give you less than the legal minimum.

the first line of the last paragraph seems to rule that out.
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