DO YOU START YOUR HOLIDAY YEAR ON 01 APRIL?

Most employers are aware that on 01 April 2009 the minimum holiday entitlement went up from 24 days per year to 28. Many hundreds of thousands of employers still have their holiday year starting 01 April and have not spotted the possible problem.

If you are an employer and give your staff 30 days holiday or more, including Bank Holidays, then there’s no problem. However, if you need to watch the pennies and only give the minimum 28 including Bank Holidays then the change in law could cost you money. How, I hear you asking yourself?

The problem occurs because Easter is sometimes in March and sometimes in April. Think about it - you will realise that if Easter is in April two years running, there is only one Easter in each of your holiday years, therefore no problem. However if it comes in April one year and March the next you have two Easters, or ten Bank Holidays not the usual eight, in your holiday year. What are you going to do - pay the staff an extra two days holiday? Alternatively tell them they must retain ten days from their 28 to cover the days the business is closed; that option would not go down very well I am sure! The following year there would be no Easters in your holiday year; now what are you to do? If your contracts say 4 weeks plus Bank Holidays you are illegal as this only totals 26 days.

The simple solution is to change the start date of your holiday year to almost any other month of the year. I hope this illustrates that keeping up to date with the law is one thing, seeing the implications is another. This is why I believe using a good external HR provider to be important for any small business; naturally I would like it to be HR4UK!