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Q I heard on the news that the minimum holiday entitlement is set to increase, but not immediately. Is that right?
A Yes it is. The Working Time Regulations 1998 introduced the right to paid time off for all workers, and this was the first time there was the legal right to have paid holiday. The current maximum level of paid annual leave is to increase, but this will be done gradually over the next two years, with the first increase in October 2007, and the second and final increase in October 2008.
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Find up-to-date information on holiday entitlement here or use the resources below: |
Q So what is the current minimum holiday entitlement, and what is it going up to?
A The current entitlement is four weeks' paid annual leave per year, and obviously a week's leave will depend on what hours the employee usually works in a week. For full-time employees, four weeks' leave equates to 20 days. Currently, an employer is legally entitled to offer just 12 days' holiday entitlement, plus statutory bank holidays, of which there are normally eight in a year. For part-time employees, the entitlements need to be reduced on a pro-rata basis.
Since the introduction of the regulations, there has been much lobbying of the government to increase the minimum entitlement to exclude the statutory bank holidays, so that these are given in addition to the four weeks' paid leave. In January, the government agreed that the minimum entitlement for
