Contact during holidays
Q. Can a employer send you a letter regarding absence when on your annual holiday bearing in mind I do not take no time off work
A. Yes, an employer is entitled to contact you at any time, but you do not need to respond until after you have completed your annual leave. Holidays should be an opportunity to take time away from the workplace, but many companies will push the boundaries and contact you by email, text and letter to ask questions? My advice - ignore them unless it’s urgent!
Holiday for term time workers
Q. We are a small team of 7. We work term time only. We are paid on the 1st of the month for the hours we worked the previous month. We are paid 4 weeks holiday, one at Christmas, one at Easter and two in the summer holidays. My question is regarding this arrangement. Is 4 weeks holiday correct?
Also, when we are closed for bank holidays, we do not get paid. If we are normally on rota for a Monday, surely we are entitled to pay for that day? I imagine you're inundated with questions, but I'd appreciate any advice.
A. You are entitled to 5.6 weeks holiday not 4. This was recently considered in the Supreme Court in the case of Harper Trust v Brazel. It held that entitlement to holiday pay under the Working Time Regulations does not need to be pro-rated for part-year workers, such as term time teachers (Ms Brazel was a term time teacher).
If you normally work on a Monday and the business closes you should either be paid for the day or be made to take a day’s holiday to cover it.
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I am covering questions on:
Equal pay
Covid and dismissal
Breach of contract
Notice pay
Holiday entitlement
Right to appraisal
Holiday carry over
Bonus entitlement
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