Workers to ‘bank’ additional holidays

With summer well upon us, the Government has begun consultation on its plans to give all workers an extra 8 days paid holiday each year by law. The new provisions reflect the number of permanent bank and public holidays in the UK.

Under the Working Time Regulations workers are entitled to 4 weeks paid leave each year but this includes public holidays. Generally employees have no right by law to have paid holiday on public holidays, though most employers do allow their employees paid time off on public holidays. The Government now proposes an amendment in the Working Time Regulations to provide for 5.6 weeks’ leave i.e. 28 days for someone who works 5 days per week. As with the existing leave entitlement, this will have to be pro-rated for part time employees. Interestingly, the Regulations will specify a maximum entitlement of 28 days. As such, even if a worker works 6 out of every 7 days, their leave will be capped at 28 days. In any event, the holiday will not have to be given on