Holiday Entitlement Increase

The Government has launched a further consultation on the increase of the statutory holiday entitlement to 28 days (pro rata for part timers). Although many employers already provide 28 days paid holiday (20 days holiday plus the 8 Bank and Public holidays) this is a matter of contractual, rather than statutory, entitlement and the current statutory entitlement is for only 20 paid days holiday (which can include the 8 Bank and Public holidays). The changes are likely particularly to affect women, part time staff, younger and low paid workers and workers in the hospitality and retail sectors.

The key proposals are:

1. The phasing in of the additional holiday with 4 extra days from 1 October 2007 and a further 4 days from 1 October 2008;