According to figures published last week by the TUC, millions of employees may be missing out on their minimum legal entitlement to paid holidays.
The TUC’s analysis of unpublished figures from the 2014 Labour Force Survey suggests that on average 6.4 per cent of employees across the UK are not using their full holiday rights, amounting to almost 1.7 million people.
In Northern Ireland this figure rises to 9.5 per cent and in Wales it is 7.6 per cent. English regions seem most affected are London (7.5 per cent) and the West Midlands (6.9 per cent). In contrast, the figure for the North East of England is 5.1 per cent and for Scotland it is 5.2 per cent.
In terms of job sectors, the TUC found the greatest concentration of underused holiday entitlements was in arts and entertainment (13.9 per cent), accommodation and food (12.5 per cent), administration and support services (9.2 per cent) and construction (8.1 per cent). In contrast, the figure for the finance and insurance sector was only 1.9 per cent and for public administration and defence it was 2.8 per cent.
The TUC is concerned that this represents a denial of workers’ rights, and that since the introduction of tribunal fees it has become easier for bad employers to get away with denying workers their rights, including full holiday pay and entitlement. It therefore argues that rather than putting the entire enforcement onus on the worker, HM Revenue and Customs should have that responsibility.
In November 1998 the EU Working Time Directive extended the right to paid leave to all workers for the first time. Up to six million workers in the UK, who had less leave than the minimum standard of four weeks, benefitted from the new allowance.
Entitlement in the UK was increased in 2007 and 2009, so that the minimum legal holiday entitlement for an employee working five days per week is currently 5.6 weeks per year (the equivalent of five weeks and three days and includes bank holidays). Part-time employees are entitled to a pro-rata amount.
Iain Birrell of Thompsons Solicitors commented “While we cannot make a fully informed assessment of the TUC's statement without seeing the unreleased results of the 2014 Labour Force Survey, if the TUC is proved correct then concerns which have existed for some time about the failure of some employers to make their employees aware of their full legal holiday entitlement will be shown to have been justified. In this scenario we would call upon the government to take seriously any employer's efforts to ignore their duties under the working time regulations, and seek to provide better mechanisms to enforce them with quick, effective and accessible systems.”