Your salon, holiday entitlement and the law

Published 02nd Aug 2010 by sophieh
Your salon, holiday entitlement and the law

David Wright, legal expert on the HJi business panel, also advises habia and UK salons on a number of the legal and HR issues that arise during salon life.

Here he answers a variety of your questions on holiday entitlement and the associated legal minefields.

My staff receive 14 days' paid holiday plus eight bank holidays, but this has been questioned by a new employee. Am I right?

No. Since 2008, the minimum holiday entitlement has been 28 days, which can include the bank holidays. Part-time staff receive a pro rata entitlement.

I would also recommend calculating their leave in hours, particularly where they do not work a standard number of hours each day.

Are staff entitled to extra pay for working on a bank holiday?

No. There is no legal entitlement to an enhanced rate. This is entirely up to the salon owner, and would be covered in the contract of employment. Similarly, there is no legal entitlement not to work on a bank holiday.

I want to shut the salon for a week after Christmas. Can I insist staff use a week's leave?

Yes. This is permitted. Ideally, you would advise staff at the start of the leave year that they are required to save a certain number of days' leave to cover this period.

I have salons across the UK; do all staff receive the same holiday entitlement?

Yes, but the dates and number of bank holidays differ. For example, there are 10 bank holidays in Northern Ireland.

Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall on a Saturday and Sunday this year. How will this affect staff?

Many salons routinely open on a Saturday and Sunday, and for these staff you would still use the 25 and 26 December as the bank holidays. However, as employees in most industries work Monday to Friday, the government has designated 27 and 28 December as substitute bank holidays.

For staff who normally work on a Saturday/Sunday, they would be paid (assuming the salon was closed) and have to use leave if the salon is to be closed on the Monday and Tuesday.

There is an extra bank holiday in 2012 for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee; will all staff get an extra day's holiday?

There is no automatic right to paid leave on a bank holiday. However, if you currently express your holiday entitlement as 20 days plus bank holidays, then in 2012 this effectively becomes 20 plus nine days.

Do staff accrue holidays while they are off on maternity leave?

Yes. They continue to accrue the full 28 days during ordinary and additional maternity leave. Many employees and employers agree that much of the leave is taken prior to beginning maternity leave or taken in a block after their maternity leave ends.

Is it true that staff do not accrue leave in their first year of employment?

Historically, in some industries, employees used to work in year one to earn their holiday pay in year two, but this discontinued in 1999.

Staff begin to accrue annual leave from day one. It is legal to say that staff cannot take more leave then they have accrued in their first year. However, this doesn't really make business sense.

Operating a holiday system in this way, an employee starting in April accruing 2.33 days a month would only have one week by the end of June and wouldn't have two weeks until the end of August.

You could have a clause in your contract enabling you to recover any holidays taken which exceeded the allowed limit.

For £200+VAT, David will write your contracts, policies and salon handbook. You can contact him with your employment queries, and he will send you a monthly newsletter filled with practical advice. Contact him on 07930 358067, 01522 831061 or pose your question on David's HJi Community legal forum.

sophieh

sophieh

Published 02nd Aug 2010

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