Proposed changes to holiday entitlement

Under the Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2007, expected to come into force on 1 October 2007, workers will have their holiday entitlement increased.

The Parliamentary process is now on-going and it is possible that the Regulations will be approved by Parliament by early July 2007. This will give three months notice of the changes.

There has been extensive consultation with industry on the issue of holiday entitlement. The objective is to ensure workers have more paid holiday by making the four weeks’ statutory holiday entitlement additional to time off for bank and public holidays (on a pro rata basis for those working part time).

The important changes (currently in draft, pending approval) can be summarised as follows.

• October 2007: Increase the statutory annual leave entitlement to 4.8 times the employees’ usual working week. (Includes bank and public holidays).
• April 2009: Increase the statutory annual leave entitlement to 5.6 times the employees’ usual working week. (Includes bank and public holidays).
• Part time: Holiday will be calculated on a pro rata basis, regardless whether or not the employee usually works on bank holidays.
• The increases will be calculated proportionally depending on when the leave year starts.
• The maximum statutory holiday entitlement will be capped at 28 days, although employers may give more contractual holiday than that.
• Payment in lieu of additional holiday entitlement is allowed until April 2009 to help employers with transitional arrangements.
• There will be no qualifying period for this holiday entitlement.

These proposals relate to England, Wales and Scotland. The Department for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland is bringing forward proposals for Northern Ireland. For a summary of responses and Government response to the consultation, go to www.berr.gov.uk/files/file39592.pdf