HOLIDAYS - 27.06.2023

Annual leave entitlement for part timers?

Annual leave entitlement

Part-time workers are entitled to the statutory minimum 5.6 weeks’ annual leave set by the Working Time Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1833) (WTR) in the same way as any other worker.

Pro advice. A week’s annual leave for a part-time worker who works three days per week will be three days. So, if you calculate their entitlement in days (or even hours) rather than weeks, they’ll receive a pro rata amount of the WTR annual leave that your full-time workers are entitled to.

Under regulation5 Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/1551) (PTW) part-time workers also have the right not to be treated less favourably than comparable full-time workers, on the grounds of their part-time status, including in relation to contractual benefits, unless such treatment can be objectively justified. This means that, where your full timers receive a more generous contractual annual leave entitlement than the statutory minimum 5.6 weeks, your part timers should also receive more than the statutory minimum, again calculated on a pro rata basis.

Bank holidays

There’s no statutory right for anyone to take paid bank holidays off work. Where you contractually grant paid time off on bank holidays to full timers, you’ll need to consider how you’ll apply that to part timers to comply with the PTW . The problem with having a policy of simply granting paid time off to those whose day of work coincides with the relevant bank holiday is that, as many fall on a Monday, it favours those part timers who work Mondays but disadvantages those who don’t, and so may be in breach of the PTW because some part timers will be treated less favourably than comparable full timers.

Pro advice. To achieve equality, give part timers a pro rata entitlement to bank holidays, regardless of whether they normally work on the days when the bank holidays fall (see Follow up ).

Pro advice. At the start of each holiday year, notify part timers what their annual leave entitlement is for that year.

Working hours increase or decrease

If a part timer increases their working hours during a holiday year, you’ll need to recalculate their annual leave entitlement at that point to reflect the new working hours. Previously accrued untaken annual leave will be preserved. If a worker decreases their working hours during a holiday year, you’ll again need to do a recalculation at that point and the worker shouldn’t suffer a reduction in their annual leave they’ve already accrued while working a greater number of hours. In other words, in both cases, calculate their accrued annual leave in hours/days at the time of the working hours change, and then work out a new accrual rate going forward, based on their new working hours.

Example. Joe changes from full time (five days per week) to part time (three days per week) during the holiday year. At this point, he had accrued but not taken two weeks’ annual leave. He should still be permitted to take the ten days’ leave, and this shouldn’t be reduced to six days because he is now part time.

Pro advice. If workers reduce their hours, require them to take any accrued untaken annual leave before they start their new working pattern.

Part-time employee clauses