You may be aware that the government recently announced that the statutory holiday entitlement for workers in England and Wales has increased but may not be clear on how this affects you.

From 1 October the statutory minimum annual leave entitlement has increased to 4.8 weeks or 24 days for a full time worker (based on a five day working week) and a further increase to 5.6 weeks (28 days) will be introduced on 1 April 2009.

Previously the minimum statutory paid holiday was four weeks or 20 days, and for many workers this included the 8 days for bank holidays or equivalent.

Employers may choose to offer more holiday than this and many already do. If you already get the equivalent of 28 days holiday, your leave entitlement will not change.

However, certain sectors that depend more heavily on part-time or temporary workers will see the most impact. An example is the hospitality industry. Clients are advised to check the wording of their contracts – Employers should be updating all contracts and staff handbooks where they do not comply.

What about part-timers and those working more than five days a week
A weeks leave should allow workers to be away from work for a week and so the time off should be pro rata, i.e. if a worker does a five day week they are now entitled to 24 days leave, if they work a three day week the entitlement is 14.4 days leave.

Similarly, employees working six days a week are entitled to 28 days paid holiday from 1 October 2007 but this is capped.

Employers do not have to round holiday entitlement up to the nearest full days but they may find it easier for administrative purposes. They are not however, allowed to round the figure down.

Can employees carry holiday over to the next year?
The first 28 days cannot be replaced by payment in lieu or carried over into the following year. Any unused holiday above four weeks may only be carried over into the following year’s leave.

Does this mean employees automatically get bank holidays off?
The Work and Families Act does not does not create a legal right to have a paid day off on bank holidays and this remains a contractual issue with your employer.