If I’m resigning from my job halfway through the year, can I still use my full annual leave?
Posted by You_moron04@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 57 comments
Speaking to a coworker where halfway through the year I’m going to be leaving for greener pastures, but she’s telling me that if I leave halfway through (around August) my leave allowance for the year gets halved. Is this actually a thing?
SensibleChapess@reddit
It's calculated pro-rata based based upon when you leave.
What most people fail to realise is that pro-rata also works in regards to the hours you work in the weeks when there's a Bank Holiday.
In such weeks everyone is legally expected to work 4/5ths of their normal working week.
I've known several people whose rotas never have them working on a Monday, and they moan every time that "I miss out on Bank Holidays because I never work on Mondays".
I also knew someone, working for the NHS, (so even managers in big organisations are clueless), who only worked 8hrs on both Mondays and Tuesdays. So on a bank holiday week, when they should have worked 12.8hrs, albeit paid for 16, they actually worked just 8. What they did was booked every Tuesday off as leave after a Bank Holiday and so effectively everytine there was a bank Holiday, they'd bok one day off and have a 13 day break from work.
TLDR: If it's a Bank Holiday week everyone is legally supposed to work just 4/5ths of a normal week. E.G. If you work 40hrs your duties have to be adjusted so you work 32hrs. If you work 17.5hrs your duties have to be adjusted so you work 14hrs... and so on.
WatercressUpset8637@reddit
A big downside to having a rota'd day on a bank holiday (in the NHS, don't know about externally). If you're part-time you only get x/5th and have the make up the remaining with your annual leave.
SensibleChapess@reddit
Cripes... If I'm understanding you correctly that's illegal.
WatercressUpset8637@reddit
It may have been how i wrote it.
It has been like that in every NHS trust i've been in. I thought it was like that in every trust.
I used to work 4 days so every bank holiday, because I didn't have the option of working, so I would get 6 hours bank holiday leave. But would have to use 1.5 hours of annual leave, even though I couldn't work as the department doesn't open. It's really not fair to part time staff
I recently changed my working days to avoid Mondays. So I will get an extra 2/5ths of 7.5 hours (3 hours of annual leave) per bank holiday.
SensibleChapess@reddit
Aha,
I'd have imagined all NHS Trust's were the same too, and it may be their policies are, but by the time it gets down to the local teams it gets misinterpreted.
One thing is certain though: Although employers can decide themselves whether they want to include Bank Holidays as (extra) annual leave, or not, (and just treat them as separate statutory days), the legal point is that any employee on a contract must not be disadvantaged because of not working on a Monday, or working odd hours. A Bank Holiday week has to be treated as a "paid holiday of 1/5 of the week's contracted hours"... So, if you're better off after changing your days off then something is a bit amiss.
N.B. The last department my partner worked in, on a 24hr week, was ridiculous. Their team didn't adjust for part-time hours... So if a full timer had, say, 30 days holiday a year, so did a part timer. That meant instead of getting an adjusted 24 / 37.5ths they got 37.5 full days off. What with getting every Bank Holiday off in full, and then effectively getting almost 50% more holiday days to book than the full timers, she was almost never there. She felt terrible, but the other part-timers said they'd kip her if she pointed out the issue. She did leave that team after a few years though, as it was so badly run.
She's much happier now, working fairly!
Frosty_Leg4438@reddit
How could you possibly think that would be the case?
hdhxuxufxufufiffif@reddit
My plan to resign three days in but get paid for six weeks has been foiled :(
elmo61@reddit
of course it does, and if you have used over half already then you will lose money in your last paycheck to balance it. Otherwise people time it so they wouldbook a year worth of holidays and then resign.
Akash_nu@reddit
I’m just wondering why OP thought it’ll be anything different. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
You_moron04@reddit (OP)
I’m still “new” to the full time corporate world. Been in public sector 3 years and this is my first time swapping to a new full time job, so working out some kinks.
peppermint_aero@reddit
Check your contract. It'll all be detailed there.
You_moron04@reddit (OP)
I think the spiders have taken up residency in the cupboard I have that in… wish me luck
peppermint_aero@reddit
Eep! Alternatively your HR will have a copy. Wouldn't it also be in your email?
You_moron04@reddit (OP)
I think we only got given physical copies? Ah it’ll be fine. So long as I don’t run into Henry (he’s a massive bastard) it should be fine
peppermint_aero@reddit
Ah. Yes, a good bit of advice is to keep electronic copies of alllll your starting paperwork (contract, pay info etc) and other work documents somewhere easily accessible like a onedrive or google drive.
bee-sting@reddit
i cant work out if youre 19 or 90
You_moron04@reddit (OP)
Ha 20s so you were close
psrandom@reddit
I believe it's same in public sector as well
porridge-monster@reddit
It absolutely is. I doubt there's any contract for any job that wouldn't work this way.
Either_Custard_7438@reddit
Yeah it’s worked out prorata. So if you get 20 days and leave halfway through it’s 10.
There’s a little formula they use to get it spot on etc, but that’s the general gist of it
You_moron04@reddit (OP)
!answer
Cheers mate. That’s thrown my holiday plans in disarray lmao
throwaway-15812@reddit
Yeah if you happen to have taken more leave than you’ve accrued they can take it back from your final pay
Either_Custard_7438@reddit
Yeah this is the most likely thing dude.
Good point throwawayer person
Inevitable-Debt4312@reddit
You can ask a new employer if they will honour your existing holiday arrangements. Of course they’re not bound to - it’s a matter of agreement.
You_moron04@reddit (OP)
I was planning to take the leave basically during my notice period, so before I finally leave, so luckily my new employer won’t need to
TheTackleZone@reddit
Employers don't have to honour holiday requests, by the way. And I imagine if you asked for a big chunk of leave during your notice period they would just say no.
You_moron04@reddit (OP)
The notice period is roughly a month and I’m planning for basically a long weekend. Should be fine. My job isn’t exactly the most important/needed lol
bozwold@reddit
Not necessarily, most companies will honour pre booked holiday dates from previous employment
theModge@reddit
It might be that you can take it unpaid? Or if you haven't told them yet, take y, then let them reclaim the value of it out of your finial pay packet? Failing that how about delaying the start of the new job, so you do the holiday in between jobs?
Positive-Sound-4972@reddit
You can, but expect an income loss in your next paycheck or a bill if you leave before
Obvious-Water569@reddit
That's right. You're entitled to say 20 days a year so if you leave after 6 months, you're entitled to 10.
If you've taken more than that, you'll owe them back (they'll be deducted from your last pay) but if you haven't taken them all, the remainder you've earned will be paid back to you in your last pay.
Matchaparrot@reddit
Yes because you didn't accrue enough leave.
When you leave you'll generally have the option to either
Alert_Mine7067@reddit
Yes, your allowance will be pro rata, so for example if you work 37.5 hrs a week and you get 4 weeks holiday, which is 150 hours.
Whilst your allowance is available in one go, it's earned incrementally as the year progresses. If you leave 3 months in then you've earned 37.5hrs 6 months is 75 hrs etc.
If you've taken 2 weeks/75hrs off and only worked 3 months then you will have a deficit of 37.5 hours, in my experience this gets deducted from any final pay, if the final pay isn't sufficient then they will chase you for the remainder afterwards, as happened to me with my last employer to the tune of £1600. Conversely, if you leave after 3 months, having not taken any holiday time off then any accrued holiday pay that is untaken is normally paid to you.
Just a simplification, because I'm sure this is probably calculated differently by your employer.
BellendBuilder@reddit
You can but it’s worked out pro rata. Going from another comment you have holiday plans. If you don’t mind taking a bit of a hit on your last pay just take your holidays and they’ll claw the amount you’re over your allowance on back from your last pay
You_moron04@reddit (OP)
I guess it doesn’t hugely matter on the last payslip. Best bet is probably talk to my manager and discuss it then I guess once I’ve started my notice period
Marzipan_civil@reddit
When you get your final pay packet, any holiday you've accrued but not taken will be paid out. Any holiday you've taken but not accrued will be taken from your final pay. So if you leave halfway through the holiday year, but you've used 15 days of your annual allowance of 20, then the company will deduct 5 days pay.
You can still take it - it will just end up being unpaid.
EmFan1999@reddit
Yes, even if you have been there one week, you get 20 days plus 8 bank holidays as standard.
What I do is, work for one week a month, then take the next 5 weeks off, then work again for another week and repeat…
Extension_Sun_377@reddit
Of course you only get the holiday you've accrued - if you take more then they will deduct it from your final pay - equally, if you haven't taken enough, they will pay it in that final pay.
Most people accrue just over 2 days a month, depending on what your entitlement is, so if you have worked 6 months, you're likely to have built up 12-13 days holiday. If you ask, they'll tell you what you have left.
Boboshady@reddit
Yes - you earn holiday on an accrual basis, so if you leave before the end of the year, you only get the percentage of total holiday that you actually worked.
Most companies will let you use holiday you've not actually earned yet, but they will adjust for that when you leave, either giving you the days back as time or money if you've earned more than you used, or taking it back if you USED more than you earned.
You_moron04@reddit (OP)
So I need to work out how many days I’ll have earned by the time I leave?
Boboshady@reddit
Yes. It's a reasonably simple sum though - you can work it out to the week easily enough:
[TOTAL HOLIDAY ALLOWANCE] / 52 = How much holiday you earn each week.
The one thing to watch out for is when it resets in your company - usually it will be the calendar year, sometimes it might be from when you started (and so different for everyone, but that would be silly), maybe your company aligns it with their financial year. These situations are uncommon but worth mentioning so they don't catch you out.
It's almost certainly from the start of the calendar year.
MintyMarlfox@reddit
Alternatively you can take them all and then they’ll deduct the money for the additional days.
Depends what’s more important to you.
HawkwardGames@reddit
You only get what you’ve accrued, not the full yearly allowance. If you take more than you’ve earned by the time you leave, they’ll usually deduct the excess from your final pay.
You_moron04@reddit (OP)
So I’ve gotta work out how much I’ll have by time I’m planning to have a trip. Gotcha. Thanks!
tyger2020@reddit
This is the first comment that actually explains why.
Yes OP, you accrue annual leave based on how much you've worked. If you only work 6 months of the financial year, you only accrue half of the annual leave entitlement.
EntrepreneurAway419@reddit
Yeah you generally accrue 1.6667 days per month, for 20 days holiday. You can use them all, they'll just take it out of final payslip
opopkl@reddit
If you left a week into the year, would you expect to still get the full year's allowance?
FornyHucker22@reddit
You can’t. You leave and you are either paid for the days owed you did not use or you get deducted for the days over that you did use.
what kind of nonsense is this?
ukbot-nicolabot@reddit
OP marked this as the best answer, given by /u/Either_Custard_7438.
^(What is this?)
Ready-Fox-3264@reddit
Yes, if you have 24 days annual leave allocated to your employee record for 12 months, it means you’re entitled to 2 days every month. So, if you’ve spent 6 months in the role and leave, you’re only entitled to 12 days. You can’t be paid for 24 holiday days if you’ve only worked 6 months.
Einstein-is-my-G@reddit
It may be the case that you can use the full year amount of leave, however upon leaving you’ll have to pay the company back for any leave you’ve taken over the pro-rata amount.
whiskeydumplings@reddit
Yes, she is right, annual leave is pro rata.
geekypenguin91@reddit
Yes it's prorated.
Any unused holiday is normally paid out, any overused holiday is deducted from your final pay.
Flat_Development6659@reddit
Yeah obviously, any additional you've taken will be knocked off your final wage. Any unused will be paid in your final wage.
Do you think someone could book the entirety of January off and be paid for the month to leave in February?
Dazz316@reddit
You get X amount of days leave per Y worked. That's always how it works. So your work will figure out how much you've worked and and let you know the right amount of days that you've accrued.
It would hardly be fair of you to take a full years worth of leave when you didn't give them a year. You work half, you get half.
bee-sting@reddit
Yeah you'll get leave proportional to how much you worked, ie half
AutoModerator@reddit
Please help keep AskUK welcoming!
When replying to submission/post please make genuine efforts to answer the question given. Please no jokes, judgements, etc. If a post is marked 'Serious Answers Only' you may receive a ban for violating this rule.
Don't be a dick to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on.
This is a strictly no-politics subreddit!
Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.