Salon staff's holiday entitlement
This represents a 40% increase in under two years and a significant increase in salon running costs. It is worth remembering that initially paid leave was introduced under the European Working Time Directive to ensure staff took rest away from the workplace for health and safety reasons.
David Wright, who advises Habia and a and a range of salons on issues from contracts to sets of policies and salon handbooks, looks at some of the key questions surrounding this subject.
Do staff have a separate entitlement to paid holidays?
No, unless the employer gives them additional leave through the Contract of Employment.
The law simply specifies a minimum of 24 days a year paid leave. Of course, this is pro rata for part-time staff. Many salons open on bank holidays and require staff to work.
There is no prescribed additional pay for this. On the other hand, if your business is closed on a bank holiday and the employee was scheduled to work then they would be paid and use a day's leave.
I currently give my staff 22 days' leave plus Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Is there anything I need to do?
You are meeting the 24-day minimum, so not at the moment. If you have part-time staff that weren't scheduled to work on the two Christmas bank holidays, then you haven't paid them. Therefore, you may not be giving them sufficient holiday pro rata.
I would suggest that, in anticipation of the increase to 28 days in April 2009, you consult with the staff now and move to 28 days, including bank holidays, which will give you more flexibility.
This wording would still enable you to require staff to work on a bank holiday should you choose to open.
Are staff entitled to additional payment for working on a bank holiday?
As I indicated above, there is no legal requirement to pay any form of enhancement and this is entirely the employer's decision.
I currently give staff 20 days plus bank holidays, but they claim when the minimum rises to 28, they have to receive 28 days plus bank holidays. Are they right?
No. As long as staff receive 28 days after 1 April 2009 you meet your legal requirement.
I always recommend salons express leave as a number of days rather than separating out bank holidays.
For example, in the 2007/08 financial year Easter fell twice in the same year and therefore there were 10 bank holidays - there are only six this year. It is easy to see the source of potential for disputes.
Similarly, the government seems likely to award an additional bank holiday in November to commemorate our war dead. If your contract specifies 'plus bank holidays' then staff will be entitled to this one automatically as well.
I have five staff and I must now give them eight days' extra leave each. I will therefore lose eight weeks of their input, thus reducing the salon income. Can you offer any advice to minimise the impact?
Yes, you can begin to consult with staff regarding the additional leave. You may, through amending your contract or salon rules, look to fix a week's leave to coincide with your predicted quieter periods.
Many salons already require staff to take certain days' leave in, for example, February or specify that 'at least one week is taken between January and February'.
On the other hand you might want to restrict leave - for example, no leave can be taken in December.
Leave is taken by mutual agreement and while you need to keep your workforce happy, you equally may wish some leave to be taken when you have historical evidence that your salon will be quiet.
What do I do regarding part-time staff and the new leave entitlement? I find it baffling.
It can be difficult, particularly as the leave increased in October 2007 and will again in April 2009 - this may not reflect your salon's leave year. It is often the case that part-time staff work different hours on different days and I always recommend that their leave is calculated in hours.
Let me give you two examples:
- Assuming full-time staff receive 24 days' leave (including bank holidays) and you have a part-time employee working 20 hours a week the formula is 4.8 (weeks) multiplied by their hours, ie 20, giving an annual leave entitlement of 96 hours including bank holidays.
- If a bank holiday falls on a working day and you are closed you simply pay them their normal hours and deduct it from the 96. If there is a bank holiday on a day they were not scheduled to work then they are not paid and you do not deduct any leave. When the leave increases to 28 days in a full year, the employee would receive 5.6 (weeks) multiplied by 20 hours giving 112 hours per year.
