Archive for the ‘Holidays’ Category
By Sarah - Wednesday, February 17th, 2010
In what is believed to be the first Tribunal to rule on holiday pay and sickness leave since two landmark decisions last year, a Tribunal has ruled that the Claimant should be allowed to carry over holiday (even if this is into a new holiday year) where he has been too ill to take it.
The case of Shah v First West Yorkshire Ltd involved Mr Shah having broken his ankle and taken three months off work. He had booked four weeks leave within the period which he wanted to reschedule but his employer refused as this meant it fell into the next holiday year. The Tribunal ruled that this approach was wrong. This is despite the WTR only permitting 8 days to be carried over into the new holiday year. Whilst not binding on other Tribunals the decision follows the ECJ decisions in Stringer and Pereda.
I seem to be the only one who thinks this decision flies in the face of common sense - whatever happened to holiday from what….This could cause a huge problem for employers as some one off on long term sick could then have twice the holiday entitlement than other employees the following year.
Posted in Holidays, Sick Pay | 1 comment »
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By Olivia - Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
But don’t start planning your activities just yet - this additional day’s bank holiday is earmarked for June 2012 to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
In addition, a diamond jubilee medal will be issued, recipients yet to be determined.
Posted in Holidays | No comments »
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By Sarah - Monday, January 4th, 2010
It is expected that the business secretary Peter Mandelson will shortly be announcing a one off extra bank holiday for 2012 to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The holiday will be on Monday 4th June 2012 the Queen’s birthday. The traditional late spring bank holiday (late May) will also be delayed until 5th June 2012 to make it a four day weekend.
For those who have contracts of employment that specify x days plus bank holidays, employees will in effect be getting another day of holiday that year. If your contract is silent on bank holidays or you have no contract and fall into the statutory provisions, then bank holidays are treated as any other day and the 28 days is unlikely to be increased by one day unless the employer is feeling generous.
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By Sarah - Wednesday, October 28th, 2009
A chinese medicine store in London has lost its appeal against a Tribunal decision to award an ex-employee £25,000 in unused holiday and meal allowances. The employer, BTRT, had a total award made against them in September 2008 for £39,000 including a claim for unfair dismissal.
The employee worked for BTRT from 2001 to her dismissal in 2008. She had racked up 131 days of unused holidays only taking holiday on four days per year which were bank holidays when the shop was closed! The employer argued that she was not entitled to any holiday except for the last holiday year under the WTR but the ET found the holiday entitlement to be contractual and therefore it could be backdated. Interestingly this was despite the employee not having a s1 statement to that effect. Apparently the EAT were persuaded to leave the Judgment as it stood given the impplications of Ainsworth and Stringer which as we reported has recently been decided.
There was also an interesting mitigation arguement as BTRT argued the unfair dismissal award should have been reduced for failure to mitigate. The EAT held that the ET was correct in finding that it would not be reasonable to expect a person like the employee, when bowled over by her unexpected dismissal, to get straight back into the job market. This sounds like an arguement which could be run with most unfair dismissal cases but the Tribunal put this down to the employee’s personal circumstances. These included her shock at being dismissed and the way she was treated, her lack of English and feelings of isolation in London and finally her lack of money for food and to find another job. Make of that what you will!
Posted in Breach of Contract, Holidays, Unfair Dismissal | 1 comment »
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By Olivia - Monday, September 28th, 2009
Once upon an employment lifetime ago we used to advise employers about costs of and how to deal with ‘absenteeism’. The current economic climate has seen the emergence of a new problem, that of ‘presenteeism’. A survey undertaken by health insurer Simplyhealth has found that 43% of people polled have not taken a day off, up 7% on the 2008 figure. Apparently UK workers are so terrified of losing their jobs that two out of five have not taken a day off for sickness in the past 12 months, potentially putting their health at risk.
Perhaps this finding will put employers minds at rest, somewhat, as to the potential repercussions of the ECJ ruling that workers who fall sick while taking annual leave should be allowed to retake their holiday. If employees are not generally taking sick leave, how likely are they to request that they be allowed more holiday?
Posted in Holidays, Sick Pay | No comments »
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By Liam - Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
Following what employers will consider to be a highly unsatisfactory decision in Ainsworth/Stringer, the ECJ have come up with another gem.
Employees who are ill while on holiday can claim sick pay (whether SSP or contractual - depending on their normal terms and conditions) while they were on holiday and then require their employer to let them take holiday at another time!
While one can understand that employees need time off to relax and enjoy their leisure time and it is not possible to do this while genuinely sick, the scope for abuse here must be huge.
Can employees return from holiday and say, “actually I didn’t feel well last week, here’s my self certification, can I have my holiday again please?”
Do employees have to notify their employer of sickness on the first day of sickness in acordance with the employer’s normal absence management procedure?
These questions remain to be answered……
For now, if employers are suspicious of an employee who notifies them of sickness while on holiday, one option open to them is to get a private investigator watching the employee to see what they get up to. Another is to consider the employee’s explanation on their return, together with any medical information from a medical professional, and take a view as to whether they believe the employee was ill or not in the same way as they would when considering how to deal with any other absence.
Posted in Holidays, Sick Pay, Uncategorized | 1 comment »
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By Olivia - Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
A website geared towards small businesses (and a useful point of reference on all manner of topics, including employment issues) www.smallbusiness.co.uk reports today that home businesses have seen turnover climb due to an increase in the number of people holidaying at home (the ‘Staycationers’). Businesses to benefit include smaller hotels, bed and breakfasts and eateries.
According to a poll by YouGov, more than half of those surveyed also intend to take their main holiday in the UK next year. Enjoying a Staycation can certainly help boost our economy and generate employment in our local areas.
Posted in Holidays | No comments »
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By Sarah - Monday, June 15th, 2009
Last week, the House of Lords made its ruling in the long running saga of Ainsworth or Stringer as some of you know it as. It ruled that employees who are off on long term sick accrue holiday and can claim the pay under the Working Time Regulations or as an unlawful deduction from wages claim going back up to six years provided the last of a series of deductions was within three months.
However, there was no ruling on whether or not employees can carry WTR holiday from one year to the next so this is yet to be tested, as under the Working Time Regulations you cannot roll over unused holdiay. In theory employees could also bring their breach of contract claim in the County Court within the six year limitation.
You can read the full judgment here. What remains to be seen if whether employers take action to dismiss employees off on long term sick sooner as a result.
Posted in Holidays | 2 comments »
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By Philip - Monday, June 1st, 2009
It looks like the working practice of “presenteeism” is making a return. Teletext holidays has commissioned a survey and found that workers are not taking all their holiday entitlement to show their employers how committed they are.
The problem with presenteeism as a strategy is that the employee is focussing on the wrong metric. Most employers are less bothered about input (hours worked and holidays taken) and more concerned about output (productivity).
Surely the most productive workers are the ones who have their work/life balance well calibrated and rarely work beyond their contractual hours and who take regular holidays to re-charge batteries? Or are productivity and attendance above and beyond the contractual requirements inextricably linked?
Common sense would suggest that the most productive workers fall into the former category.
Posted in Holidays | 1 comment »
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By Emma - Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
April is one of the two months of the year when employment law changes tend to come in (October being the other). There are a number just in or about to come in, not least the abolition of the Statutory Dispute Resolution Procedures and their replacement with the ACAS Code.
One change which came in yesterday relates to holiday entitlement. As of yesterday full time workers are entitled to 28 days holiday each year under the Working Time Regulations. This figure can include bank holidays (of which we have 8) so if you already offer (or have) 20 days plus bank holidays nothing changes.
Posted in Holidays | No comments »
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