Q. I recently started a new full time job and my contract of employment states that I get 20 days paid holiday per year. However, I have been told by a friend that, with Bank Holidays etc, I should be entitled to more than that. Is he right, or do new starters not get as many holidays as other employees?
A. Under current regulations full time workers are entitled to 28 statutory holidays per year. The fact that you have only recently started work has no bearing upon this as there is no minimum period of continuous service required to qualify for this leave.
We currently have 8 public holidays comprising of 6 Bank Holidays (Easter Monday, the first and last Mondays' in May, the last Monday in August, Boxing Day and New Year's Day) plus the traditional public holidays of Good Friday and Christmas Day, which are granted annually by Royal Proclamation. The regulations do not make any reference to these Public Holidays and therefore, in practice, the 28 statutory days leave are inclusive of the 8 Public Holidays.
It is therefore not uncommon for a contract of employment to provide for 20 days' annual leave plus the above 8 public holidays, thus meeting the statutory minimum requirement of 28 days. I suspect that this may be the position which you find yourself in but if, after having considered the above, you are still not sure, could I suggest that you send to me a copy of your contract of employment in order that our employment experts can review the position for you.
