Am I Entitled

[Bob906]

My Grandaughter started a new job in May of this year working as an admin clerk for a building company, her boss is being a bit of a t*t, when the minimum wage went up in the last month or so he said he does not have to pay the increase, but he was proven wrong and has decided to pay it.

Now he says that she is not entitled to any pay for the 2 weeks that they are closed over Christmas & New Year. My point is that if she is available for work whether they close or not then she should be paid, who is right please.

Many thanks to all who answer.

[knowabit]

I think it would depend on the Company policy or her contract... my boss shuts for the xmas week and we have to use days out of our annual holiday entitlement.

[Bob906]

I thought that everyone was entitled to public holidays and any other days off you could take as holidays or not if you are entitled to, or has the holiday entitlement changed since i retired.

[LyndaB]

My daughter also has to save annual leave for her Christmas holidays. Me? Af Christmas And Boxing Day, and New Year's Day fall on my normal days off, like they did last year, then I lose out.

[Bob906]

Well am i right in saying that the 28 days statuary annual holiday entitlement which you get automatically when you start a new job, includes all the Public/Bank Holidays.

[factor-fiction]

Assuming she works full time, yes she is entitled to a minimum of 28 days including public/bank holidays each year. If she started in May she will only get the relevant proportion (about three quarters of that) if the holiday year runs 1 January to 31 December.
If the employer closes for two weeks over Christmas I'd expect her to be have to take 10 days of her entitlement then.
Is this what is meant?

[factor-fiction]

^ oops- where i said three quarters I meant a little under two thirds

[factor-fiction]

This may help.
http://businessdataba...PSAR_EU112008/related
If he has already used up his holiday entitlement then it would have to be unpaid leave. However the employer needs to give adequate notice (which i think has been done) and get the employee's agreement.
But he also needs to check the contract- it may be that the shutdown was covered in there

[factor-fiction]

Finally, if it's a layoff situation, read this
http://www.safeworker...shorttimeworking.html


In What Circumstances Can Employers Lay Off Their Workforce?
Where there is an expressed contractual right agreed between an employer and its employees. Alternatively, there may be an agreement covering this issue between the company and the trade union or a national agreement within the industry which the employer follows. Such agreement has contractual force only if it is incorporated into the employees' Contract of Employment.
The right of an employer to lay off may also be implied if it can be shown by clear evidence that the custom and practice of laying off staff has been established over a long period.

Employers are legally able to tell employees not to turn up for work because there is no work available but there is no general right not to pay them because work isn't available.

Both parties may agree to alter the contract terms so that any lay off isn't a decision taken solely by the employer but one of mutual agreement (e.g. where the only alternative is redundancy). However, this does not mean that there has been a variation in the employee's contract and that he/she can be laid off at will in the future.

Do Employees Have Any Right to Pay and How Long Can a Lay Off Last?
Employees can be laid off without pay if that is stipulated in their contract. However, they may be entitled to a statutory guaranteed payment from their employer, usually limited to a maximum of 5 days within any 3 month period.
On days when a guaranteed payment is not payable, an employee may be entitled to Jobseeker's Allowance.

How long a lay off can last is determined by the terms within the employment contract. However, the employee may, in some cases, be able to give their employer written notice of their intention to claim a redundancy payment.
What is Short-Time Working?
Short-time working occurs when employees are laid off for a number of contractual days each week or for a number of hours each working day.
As in the case of a lay-off, an employer must have an expressed or implied power in order to reduce the amount of pay lawfully. Normal practice would be for the employee or union to agree to short-time working as an alternative to redundancy.
Where there are no express rights of the employer, an employee may claim that the employer's action amounted to a dismissal and complain to of an unfair dismissal to an employment tribunal. They may pursue a claim for loss or deduction of wages.
Employees placed on short-term working may be able to claim Jobseeker's Allowance for the balance of the hours they do not work.

[bednobs]

if the place is shut, she should take annual leave then - if she doesn't have enough left she'll have to take it unpaid (as long as she has the legal minimum holiday in the year) and just plan better next year

[Hopkirk]

Is she on a contract with set hours, or a zero hours contract?

If she is on set hours, then she would be entitled to holidays. However the employer could insist she takes holiday during their Xmas closure.

If she is just casual staff on a zero hours contract, then no he does not have to pay her when there is no work for her.
(Note though even zero hours staff are entitled to holiday pay, so at some stage in the year he should be paying this after seeing how much she has worked)