Bank Holiday Entitlement

12-05-2006

Given its importance, it is suprising that the issue of part-time workers' entitlement to paid Bank Holidays remains unclear.

The dilemma is whether to grant part-timers only those Bank Holidays that fall on days they would normally work, or whether they should be entitled to take a proportionate amount of the eight statutory days.

The problem is that at least four Bank Holidays fall on a Monday, and there is a good chance of another two doing so as well (as those that fall on a weekend are taken on a Monday). If you consider 2006 as an example, seven out of eight fall on a Monday or Tuesday.

Relying on the "pro-rata principle", most employers grant paid Bank Holidays in proportion to hours worked. So a person working three days a week would be entitled to 4.8 days, rounded up to five.

This approach, however, disadvantages part-timers who work from Monday to Wednesday in a year where six bank holidays fall on a Monday. They will have to take one of those Bank Holidays out of their remaining leave entitlement, whereas an employee who works Wednesday to Friday in the same year will effectively be granted up to four additional days' holiday.

Unfortunately, there is no right or wrong answer. While many in Human Resources will still consider that a pro-rata approach is the fairest, adopting a policy of awarding the days that fall on normal working days may not be in breach of the law.

The government is proposing to increase the annual leave entitlement under the Working Time Directive to include an entitlement to Bank Holidays, but this will only clarify the situation for part-time workers if the government expressly deals with it in the amended regulations.

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