Employee holidays can simultaneously be something to look forward to and a bit of a logistical nightmare when it comes to running a business. It can often feel like a daunting prospect, juggling all the holiday requests of your staff. Add in to that the prospect of having to calculate holiday entitlement for staff who are full-time, part-time and those who work irregular hours, and it’s easy to feel you have quite a task on your hands!
You can also give additional leave over and above the statutory minimum entitlement. In this situation, it is wise to make sure all policies are fairly applied. You may also want to consider using the same policy as part of your overall HR strategy. Providing additional holidays to recognise long service is a great employee retention tool!
Things to consider
There are three main considerations to think about when it comes to holiday pay. The first surrounds the number of holidays each staff member is entitled to. This will vary on the number of days or hours each employee works (not to mention remembering any bank holiday allowances too)!
The second is in regard to the financial implications of holiday pay. Remember that although the staff member in question will still be getting paid, there is no work getting done the day(s) they are off. This needs to be managed carefully and taken into account when deciding how to distribute the workload, both before/after and during the chosen holiday period.
The final consideration is that of fairness and opportunity. There will likely be certain times of the year that holidays will be in greater demand. This will include over the summer and then over the festive period too. If you have a number of employees with children, school holiday time will also be high in demand. The question is, how do you ensure that everyone gets the time off that they want/need? Getting the right balance can be a delicate process, with many different elements needing to be taken into account.
Legal entitlement
Knowing the legal entitlement of employees when it comes to holiday pay is always a good place to start. Statutory minimum leave entitlement (more commonly known as annual leave) is 5.6 weeks a year. This covers all types of workers, and bank holidays can be included as part of this. For those working part-time or irregular hours, holiday entitlement works slightly differently and will be determined on a pro rata basis.
Other factors to take into consideration when it comes to holidays and pay are what happens if days are not taken by the end of the holiday year. In addition, you will want to know the process whereby there is an overlap between holidays taken and absence due to sickness. More often, employers are being asked if employees can take holidays instead of sickness absence to ensure that they are paid in full. Although this does have its advantages, a disadvantage can be the masking of poor absence levels.
When it comes to pay, the rules have changed significantly over the last few years. Now employees have more rights when it comes to calculating their holiday pay.
Please get in touch if you need any advice on calculating employee holidays or holiday pay.
