Raworths Solicitors in Harrogate has received a large number of queries from local employers trying to establish whether the Royal Wedding Day is an additional bank holiday and how to deal with large numbers of employees wanting time off at the same time as a result of the glut of bank holidays falling together.
Ruth Butt, employment lawyer at Raworths says, “This public holiday can be an administrative nightmare for employers with so many staff wanting extended leave at the end of April and there is also the question as to whether there is a legal requirement to give 29th April as a day off.”
Ruth advises businesses to check the small print of their contracts. The Working Time Regulations 1998 provide that full-time employees are entitled to 5.6 weeks paid time-off per year. Many employers include the public holidays within this, and, where this is the case, employees are entitled to a paid holiday on 29th April. If the contract is 28 days inclusive of public holidays, employees are entitled to holiday on 29 April but this will reduce their entitlement to 19 days plus public holidays for the rest of the year. Other contracts may detail 20 days plus public holidays, which would not reduce holiday for the rest of the year. Some contracts may not even refer to public holidays. “How a business handles this will obviously have a bearing on employee relations and it is vital to ensure that employers communicate their decisions clearly to staff,” Ruth reminds employers.
Another problem facing employers is the large number of employees asking for extended leave at the same time to take advantage of the bank holidays. “This places employers in a difficult situation and it is useful as a starting point to check whether employees have complied with the correct procedures when requesting leave. Clearly it is important not to discriminate when selecting which employees are allowed to take leave. Most importantly, employers should think about the impact on staff morale of not allowing a holiday or longer leave, ” says Ruth.
For further information please contact Caroline Barr on 01423 340126 or Jonathan Mortimer on 01423 566666.
