ANY LAWYERS/SOLICITORS empoyement law question

hi,ive been working for a builder for 13 years,but only went back on the books in april. the crunch has finally hit and im currently on lay-off.i was told before christmas to have 2 weeks off over the holiday and ring him after new year.i was told theres currently no work so stay off(5 days lay off pay) but i never got my 2nd week off holiday pay! he gave me some story that im not entitled to it yet, but as im on lay off after my 2 weeks holiday i presumed im entitled,arent i?
hes not mentioned redundency so surely im still employed so entitled to the holiday pay?

any info or help would be great,i dont wont to be a c*nt with him but i feel ive been bent over!im hopeing he gets more work soon so i can go back to everything being normal .

cheers,chris

How is your holiday entitlement accrued? Is it that you haven't earned enough holiday yet this year?

You may have 24 days holiday entitlement for example, but if you've only worked for a month then you have only earned 2 days holiday.

Have you got a written contract? Does it cover this situation?

Firstly, Have you got a contract of employment? If you have, then have a good read about your holiday entitlement. If it states that you are entitled to a set number of days per year and you had used them up prior to your two weeks off over Christmas, then he is probably not obliged to pay you. It also depends on when your holiday year starts; if it is in April and you have for example 25 days holiday entitlement a year, then that entitlement will accrue as the year wears on, you couldn't just take 25 days paid holiday at the start of the year. However, if the holiday year starts on Jan 1st, then you will have started accruing your allowance from this date and so far would only be entitled to a couple of days paid holiday. There can be variations stipulated in an individual's contract, but this is pretty standard.

If you don't have a contract of employment, then I'm not sure what to suggest. There will be minimum rights set out in the law, but it probably worth calling the Citizen's advice, they are brilliant at offering advice around these sorts of issues and it's free! (I'm not a lawyer or solicitor, but have had employment law training in my role in recruitment and HR).

i have 24 days a year in my contract but i havent been made redundent so i quessed im still entitled,i was not enformed i wasnt and told my holiday pay was sorted.i appreciate if im finished i dont get 24 but till that day im sure i should get it still

cheers

Do you know when in the year they start their holiday entitlement from? If it is in April when you started back on the books and you haven't used 24 days up, then you will still be entitled to it.

However if it started in January 2008, then you would not get the full 24 days entitlement for the year, you would lose 2 days for each month not worked prior to signing your contract in April, (Jan, Feb, march) so only be entitled to 18 days. If between April 08 and Dec 08 you took the full 18 days leave, then he would not have to pay any extra days for time taken off since the start of this year.


Hope this helps?

Nope, holiday is 'built up' over time. Your 24 days runs over a 12 month period. If you've worked one month, you've earned the right to be paid for 2 days holiday (24 days total divided by 12 months). By the middle of the year, you've earned 12 days paid holiday and so on.

Normally, employers pay their staff as usual for holiday taken when it hasn't been built up as they can be pretty sure that the employee will be working for the whole year and will therefore 'earn' all their holiday. In your circumstances however, it looks like your employer is sticking to the letter of the law in order to keep his costs down and because he's not sure when work will begin again.

if however i do get back to work can i reclaim the days at all,or do i get the money or extra days payed off?

You will not get any extra holiday beyond the number of days written in your contract, which Russell correctly states is built up month by month throughout the year.

It should say in your contract from what date you started building up your holiday.

I believe that your holiday entitlement accrues whether you are actively working or not.

does that mean i should still be entitled?

my contract started 6th april(tax year)08



cheers guys im really appreciating this,hopefully beers on me peaks 09