Long time since I've posted! Hope everyone is well
I have done a search and I can't see the answer to my query anywhere, even though there are a lot of questions about this subject. I have a client (care industry) who has staff who work irregular hours each month, therefore I am calculating holiday pay based on the 12.07% of actual hours worked calculation. My query is, if they have accrued say 84 hours holiday over three months, April to June and then they take say, 4 days off in July, should I then pay them the whole of the 84 hours accrued? If they work irregular hours, how long do I know 4 days equates to?
I used to deal with this for another client, but it was slightly different as it was in education and they had to take school holidays off.
I've got a horrible cold which is stopping my brain working!!!
Long time since I've posted! Hope everyone is well
My query is, if they have accrued say 84 hours holiday over three months, April to June and then they take say, 4 days off in July, should I then pay them the whole of the 84 hours accrued? If they work irregular hours, how long do I know 4 days equates to?
Hi Pauline.
Were they really working 21 hour days?
I would calculate it based on the previous 12 weeks hours, get an average, then calculate 4/5ths. Alternatively ask the employer what they would reasonably consider to be a working day (eg 8 hours) then pay that x 4.
__________________
John
Any advice given is for general guidance and professional advice should be sought applicable to your circumstances.
Hi Pauline
Ask for a copy of the contract - often they are not silent on such things to prevent any moans and groans etc. Assuming there is a contract.
__________________
Joanne
Winner of Bookkeeper of the Year 2015, 2016 & 2017
Thoughts are my own/not to be regarded as official advice,which should be sought from a suitably qualified Accountant.
You should check out answers with reference to the legal position
Well, they sometimes work night shifts, but no, not 21 hr days So, you say I should calculate their average hours over the last 12 weeks and then pay them 4/5 of that and not use the 12.07%? Most of their average day seems to be 9 hrs.
Thanks for your reply. I can ask for a copy of the contracts but I think they say holiday pay is worked out over the average of the last 12 weeks pay. But this is difficult as they don't get paid weekly, only monthly, so is a nightmare to work out!
Back when I was self employed I used to calculate holiday entitlement in the same way but it was a term time only setting where they got all the accrued holiday at the end of a term. However we had an average "shift length" of 4.5 hours. I think I gree with John's method of calculating it.
Well, they sometimes work night shifts, but no, not 21 hr days So, you say I should calculate their average hours over the last 12 weeks and then pay them 4/5 of that and not use the 12.07%? Most of their average day seems to be 9 hrs.
Pauline
Hi Pauline, I think you misunderstood what I said. You've already worked out how many hours the employee is due, using 12.07% of hours worked, which is correct. You now need to determine the hours worked over the last 12 weeks, then divide by 12 to get the weekly hours. (eg if it was 45 hours you would pay them 36 hours for the 4 days)
If they're paid monthly that does make it more awkward, do you have timesheets you can check or are you just given the no of hours worked each month? If the latter I would divide the last 3 months hours by 13 to get the weekly hours)
As Joanne says though, do check the contract first.
__________________
John
Any advice given is for general guidance and professional advice should be sought applicable to your circumstances.
Yes, this was the case with my other client who worked in education. Her employees were paid when they took holidays in term time, they were paid all of the accrued holiday at this time, but this case is different.
There is probably a "normal" shift pattern of 9 hrs ish.
Oh, sorry John....told you my head was all bunged up!
I don't normally see the timesheets no, but I suppose I could ask for them. So, I have calculated that the last three month's actual hours worked is 665.5, 12.07% of this is 80.4...where do I go next?
Oh, sorry John....told you my head was all bunged up!
I don't normally see the timesheets no, but I suppose I could ask for them. So, I have calculated that the last three month's actual hours worked is 665.5, 12.07% of this is 80.4...where do I go next?
Think I should retire!!
Hi Pauline
You've already worked out the holiday hours at 84 hours, which would suggest they have been accrued slightly longer than 3 months.
665.5/13 is 51.19 rounded 51.19/5 x 4 is 40.95 hours. I would therefore pay 41 hours and deduct it from their holiday entitlement.
__________________
John
Any advice given is for general guidance and professional advice should be sought applicable to your circumstances.
Hi John. Thanks for that. It was 80.4 hrs not 84 and the three months accrual is correct. They do a lot of hours per month including night shifts of about 11-12 hrs. (Sleep overs). Why is it so complicated!
