Tuesday Q&As

3.1.23

2023 kicks of with 10 interesting questions:

• Holiday pay - id shift allowance included and how far can you claim back?

• Working in a very cold office. Is it legal?

• Promotion but no pay rise

• Holiday pay on termination

• Recovering an overpayment of wages leaving an employee with nothing

• Changing from night work to daywork

• Holiday - can’t take one day, employer insists one week minimum

• Holiday refusal and subsequent disciplinary

• Office closing - told to work from home

• Holiday calculation should be averaged over a period of time

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Holiday pay - is shift allowance included and how far can you claim back?

Q. Hi, I work permanently evening shift we get shift allowance weekly bonus and there’s a lot of overtime as well regularly. i’ve mentioned to my employer that we should be getting the same pay as we do when we work for holidays which, as far as I know, they’re going to work out in the New Year.

My question is, is the shift allowance included in this as well and can we get back pay if the holidays overlap between the three months I’ve worked it out that last year and possibly the year before at all adds up within three months of each.  thanks for any help 

A. Yes, your shift allowance should be used in the holiday calculation. If you have had a break of over three months between taking holiday in the past, the chain in a series of deductions is broken at that point. So, if there has always been a gap of less than three months you can claim back up to two years.

Ask your employer for the extra holiday top up regardless of whether there was a break of three months or not. Hopefully they will do the right thing and pay you.

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Working in a very cold office - is it legal?

Q. I work in an office with 3 others it is below 16 degrees at the moment and the company won't let us put the heating on, we are sat at our desks In coats and hats trying to keep warm is this breaking any laws.