New holiday legislation ñ are you prepared?

The holiday season may be over but the topic is not going away. ìWith new legislation coming into force on 1st October which will give increased statutory holiday entitlement, many employers may be confused about the new regulations believing that they may suddenly have to increase the holiday entitlement of their entire workforceî, says Sikin Andela, employment law specialist and partner with Glovers solicitors.

However, according to Andela, there is no need to panic. ìCurrently, employees are entitled to a statutory minimum of 20 days of paid holiday per year. It is important to appreciate (and many people donít) that under current legislation, this is inclusive of all 8 public holidays, and so legally, employers only have to allow an employee to take twelve additional days holiday at a time of their choice. From 1st October 2007, the minimum entitlement will be increased from 20 to 24 days and then again to 28 days in April 2009 ñ however this will still be inclusive of all public holidays.î

ìWhat many employers do not realise is that there is no legal requirement to allow employees to take public holidays in addition to the holiday entitlement stated in their contract. What this means in reality is that if your employment contract states that the holiday entitlement is 20 days per year ñ and you also allow staff to take all bank and public holidays off work ñ you are already giving them 28 days paid holiday. Consequently, the new regulations, in many cases are unlikely to have any real effect.î