Factsheet 10: Employer Information #5

Employer guidelines to the new Working Time Regulations (cont’d from Factsheet 9)

Paid Annual Leave

· Employees are currently entitled to a minimum of four weeks (including public and Bank Holidays).

· Holiday entitlement accrues from the first working day. Generally speaking, an employee accrues approximately one and a half days holiday entitlement per month. Holiday leave should always be booked in advance and mutually agreed.

· Leave years normally start on a date agreed between employer and worker; either an employer specified date, or the date from which employment commenced. In the absence of an agreement, the leave year will start on 1st October, if the worker started on or before 1/10/98.

· If a worker starts partway through a leave year (as specified by employer), their leave entitlement is proportionate to the amount of the leave year they work. There is no right to leave which is not taken by the end of a leave year,according to the new regulations, although this could be left to the discretion of the employer.

· One weeks leave is equivalent to the time that a worker normally works in a week. Therefore, a worker who works 20 hours each week, would receive the equivalent of 20 hours leave for every one weeks holiday due.

· Employer and employee should mutually inform each other when leave is and is not to be taken. A shared notice period is required of at least twice the period of the leave to be taken, unless mutually agreed otherwise.

Public & Bank Holidays

There is no legal entitlement to bank and public holidays. As an employer you may choose to pay your workers for these if specified in your contract agreement. It is at your discretion whether payment is made for these holidays, and whether they also count towards increasing the number of days taken as ‘annual leave’.

Version 3.2

Version Date: 2^nd August 2005

ã The Rowan Organisation Supporting Independent Living