If you are self-employed and your holiday pay is inadequate to meet your family expenses, it may be possible to negotiate lower holiday premium pay rates. Insurance companies have rules that protect them against employees who take holidays while they are present on the job. You should therefore not take unnecessary holidays when you are not entitled to them. In certain cases where the employee cannot be reached for a reasonable amount of time it may also be necessary for the employer to pay out benefits even though you have holidays booked. If this is the case it may be worth talking to an employment solicitor to see if any special payment is available as part of your workers’ compensation package. Visit here for more information about us hours information
If you are self-employed and your holiday hours are considerably reduced because of a recessionary economic situation, it is possible to ask your employer to reduce your holiday premium pay by providing alternative, more appropriate work schedules. It may be difficult to determine which is more suitable, regular or non-regular. In certain cases employees who have increased their attendance without advance warning may be entitled to a higher rate of pay. The normal scheduling procedures will apply in such circumstances. However, if the reduced availability is due to an economic downturn, it is unlikely you will be entitled to a greater than normal rate of pay.
Certain businesses offer employees the choice of taking a break from work for a longer period of time, perhaps up to a year. These offers may be particularly attractive for full-time employees whose annual leave entitlements are lower than their annual salaries. Again, some companies may decide to hike up the basic pay rate for full-time employees taking a break, thus reducing their ability to reduce their own basic rate of pay for holidays. In situations like this it may be more appropriate for workers to consider taking cheaper short term holiday packages rather than ensharing any increased basic pay rate with their next employers.
Sometimes employees are offered the opportunity to take a vacation week, often called a “vacation leave”. For a fairly standard holiday week an employee is entitled to a reasonable amount of paid holiday leave. In the majority of cases (but not always) this amount is equivalent to half a week’s normal working hours. It is not always the case that all employees are entitled to this same right of vacation leave; in particular some industries have varying employment regulations and rules. If you are unsure whether your company allows vacation leave or would prefer to negotiate your own terms you should contact your human resources department or your employment lawyer.
Some businesses, both large and small, do not allow their employees to take their normal holiday entitlement after a certain number of hours worked. Often such restrictions are related to the amount of overtime work an employee is expected to complete in a week. For instance, many construction firms require their employees to complete extra shifts every night. If overtime work is required, it could be considered ‘extra’ and, as such, would mean that employees were not entitled to a normal holiday break. Similarly, many supermarket companies have a policy of only allowing employees to take regular holiday leave for six days at a time. Again, if an employee wishes to continue working beyond this limit they are usually unable to do so.
Most importantly, it is vital that any employees wishing to take their holiday (usually after the end of the regular work season) understand that their contractual holiday entitlement does not cover compensatory time. In effect, compensatory time is ‘more than’ regular holiday leave, because it enables the employee to continue working beyond the normal termination of their contract. If an employee agrees to take their entire contract period into account when calculating their holiday entitlement, they are often unable to claim compensatory time or receive an increased amount of statutory holiday pay. If you wish to avoid these pitfalls when taking your holiday, it is highly recommended that you negotiate your contract and ensure that your rights to adjust your hours and holidays are clearly understood.
