New Employee Holidays

Hi Chrissy

Great question and one which I don't think legislation addresses directly other than with reference to accrual rates and notice provisions so I have included these below. The reality however is that if you don't allow the holiday you do risk demotivating the employee in their first few weeks and I guess it will boil down to business need and as you say company policy.

If you really need the employee to work you can serve counter notice of the holiday see below.....

I also checked the ACAS guide on holidays and holiday pay but with the exception of the accrual point this was silent with reference to pre-booked holidays.

A worker which starts work part-way through the employer's leave year, the WTR 1998 provides that:

Leave entitlement for the remainder of the leave year in which employment starts should be calculated on a pro rata basis. Fractions of a day are permitted. During the first year of employment (not just the remainder of the initial leave year), the amount of the leave entitlement that the worker can take is governed by the "accrual" provisions of regulation 15A. Leave accrues at the rate of 1/12 of a full year's entitlement at the beginning of each month (regulation 15A). It is not clear in the WTR 1998 whether the reference to the beginning of a "month" is to the first day of a calendar month or a month of employment measured from the worker's start date. The latter seems the more sensible approach.

The accrual provisions in the first year of employment are designed to control the taking of leave by new workers. There had been concern that, without them, a new worker would be entitled to take their entire leave entitlement during their first few weeks of employment. However, whether a worker can take holiday on a given date is controlled by the notice provisions of regulation 15, so that an employer can prevent a worker from taking holiday (or rather, delay it until later in the year) whether or not the holiday entitlement has been accrued.

An employer may also refuse a worker's holiday request by serving a counter-notice. This must be given at least as many calendar days before the date on which the leave is due to start as the number of days which the employer is refusing (regulation 15(4)(b), WTR 1998).

Good luck!

Sarah

Replies

Sarah Loates September 9, 2016 at 7:38am
Hi Chrissy

Great question and one which I don't think legislation addresses directly other than with reference to accrual rates and notice provisions so I have included these below. The reality however is that if you don't allow the holiday you do risk demotivating the employee in their first few weeks and I guess it will boil down to business need and as you say company policy.

If you really need the employee to work you can serve counter notice of the holiday see below.....

I also checked the ACAS guide on holidays and holiday pay but with the exception of the accrual point this was silent with reference to pre-booked holidays.

A worker which starts work part-way through the employer's leave year, the WTR 1998 provides that:
- Leave entitlement for the remainder of the leave year in which employment starts should be calculated on a pro rata basis. Fractions of a day are permitted. During the first year of employment (not just the remainder of the initial leave year), the amount of the leave entitlement that the worker can take is governed by the "accrual" provisions of regulation 15A. Leave accrues at the rate of 1/12 of a full year's entitlement at the beginning of each month (regulation 15A). It is not clear in the WTR 1998 whether the reference to the beginning of a "month" is to the first day of a calendar month or a month of employment measured from the worker's start date. The latter seems the more sensible approach.
The accrual provisions in the first year of employment are designed to control the taking of leave by new workers. There had been concern that, without them, a new worker would be entitled to take their entire leave entitlement during their first few weeks of employment. However, whether a worker can take holiday on a given date is controlled by the notice provisions of regulation 15, so that an employer can prevent a worker from taking holiday (or rather, delay it until later in the year) whether or not the holiday entitlement has been accrued.

An employer may also refuse a worker's holiday request by serving a counter-notice. This must be given at least as many calendar days before the date on which the leave is due to start as the number of days which the employer is refusing (regulation 15(4)(b), WTR 1998).

Good luck!

Sarah

This reply was deleted.

The HR Forum

New Employee Holidays

Replies

HRGo!

Members

What's Happening?

CIPD Branch Events