Archived News

Changes to holiday entitlement

23 March 2009

In an important change to the rules governing holiday entitlement for employees, the statutory minimum number of weeks’ paid annual leave that you must give your employees is set to rise on 1 April from 4.8 to 5.6 weeks per year.

This means that an employee working a five-day-week will enjoy an increased holiday allowance from 24 to 28 days-a-year. While you can naturally choose to offer more paid annual leave than this statutory minimum, by law you will not be able to offer less.

This follows a rise on 1 October 2007 from 20 to 24 days, in a phased increase that brings the holiday entitlement of UK workers in line with that of their counterparts in other EU countries.

It is important to realise that the new 28-day entitlement includes the eight UK Bank and Public Holidays, although there will be no obligation to take the additional days on those actual dates.

Many employers are already providing a leave entitlement that is greater than the new statutory minimum and will need to make no changes. Anyone who is uncertain about where they stand, however, should take the advice of an employment lawyer.