Longer Holidays for All

Newsletter issue - September 07.

Currently all workers are entitled to 4 weeks paid holiday a year, which amounts to 20 working days for those who work a 5 day week, including the eight bank holidays in the year. Many employers allow their staff to take bank holidays (or another day in lieu) in addition to their contractual leave entitlements, so their workers effectively get 28 paid days off per year. However, less generous employers will have to review their holiday arrangements following changes to be introduced this autumn.

From 1 October 2007 the statutory holiday entitlement will increase to 4.8 weeks (24 days), and from 1 April 2009 it will increase again to 5.6 weeks (28 days). So where an employer allows his workers to take 20 days plus bank holidays the change will have no effect, but workers who must currently count the bank holidays as part of their annual leave will gain extra paid holiday.

The additional holiday entitlement for each worker is calculated according to the amount of the holiday year left to run from 1 October 2007, and the number of days they normally work per week. Say your holiday year runs to 31 December, and your standard working week is 5 days. Each full-time worker will be entitled to 21 days paid holiday in 2007 and 24 days in 2008. We can help you calculate the extra holiday entitlement for part-time workers and those that join or leave part way through the year.