Annual leave changes Since 23 November 1999, a worker has been entitled to take four weeks paid annual leave per leave year, which can include bank and public holidays. From 1 October 2007, all workers have a right to an additional 1.6 weeks’ annual leave, equivalent to eight days for a worker on a five-day week. Workers become eligible for the first additional 0.8 weeks (four days for a five-day a week worker) from this date and for the second 0.8 weeks from 1 April 2009. Statutory annual leave entitlement is capped at 28 days. There is, however, no separate right for paid leave to be taken on a specific bank or public holiday. Employers granting their workers the following minimum conditions as at 1 October 2007 and beyond are not bound by the new legislation: at least 5.6 weeks or 28 days (whichever is the lesser) paid annual leave, at their normal rate of pay, without payment in lieu except when the employment comes to an end or for an initial transitional phase (the extra 0.8 week until 1 April 2009), and any carry-over above four weeks is limited to the following leave year Any additional leave the employer provides above 1.6 weeks is excluded from the new provisions. Therefore, a five-day a week worker granted five weeks leave plus public holidays in England has a leave entitlement of 33 days. The employer may make a payment in lieu for up to five days of unused leave, or carry leave over for more than one year. The additional leave entitlement is calculable by multiplying the proportion of the employer’s leave year left to run by the additional leave due from 1 October 2007. For many workers the leave year runs from 1 January to 31 December. Therefore, the amount of additional leave will be a 3/12ths of 0.8 weeks, i.e. 0.2 weeks. The statutory minimum leave entitlement for 2007 is 4.2 weeks. Following on, for the calendar year 2008, annual leave entitlement will be 4.8 weeks. For the calendar year 2009, the proportion of the year starting 1 April 2009 that will have expired by 31 December 2009 is nine months. The additional leave entitlement will, therefore, be 0.8 weeks plus 0.6 weeks (9/12ths x 0.8), making a total of 5.4 weeks leave. A ready reckoner that allows employers to calculate leave entitlement applicable to a specified leave year is available at www.berr.gov.uk/employment/holidays/page40455.html. From 1 October 2007, part-time workers are entitled to 4.8 weeks’ leave, based on the hours a week that they work, regardless of whether they work on days on which public holidays fall. Therefore, a worker contracted to work four days a week, with a leave year starting on 1 January 2007 will have 16.8 days (4.2 weeks x 4 days) leave for 2007. There is no statutory requirement to round up leave entitlement to the nearest full day, but employers can do so for ease of administration. Employers cannot round down the answer. Paul Tew, Pay Magazine Snowdrop provides a range of Payroll solutions that are fast, flexible and easy-to-use, to suit the many and varied needs of each organisation. To find out more about the software and services that we provide, please click here >>