UK has announced 3 categories of workers that are eligible for 5 weeks paid holiday per year.
Under statutory yearly leave laws nearly all workers in the UK are entitled by law to 5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year.
The entitlement is for agency workers, irregular hours workers and part-year workers who are not paid during specific periods.
In the UK, employers are able to include bank holidays as part of a worker’s statutory yearly leave entitlement.
Almost everyone who is defined as a worker in the UK is entitled by law to 5.6 weeks paid holiday a year under rules known as statutory leave entitlement or annual leave.
It covers a wide range of employees, not just full-time employees in traditional roles.
Agency staff are included. As are persons who work irregular hours i.e. whose working hours change frequently or consistently from pay period to pay period. Part-year workers also eligible, meaning workers who have at least one full week within a leave year where they are not compelled to work and earn no compensation.
Who Is Considered a Worker Under UK Annual Leave Law?
The categories under UK annual leave law demonstrate the wide use of the definition of ‘worker’. The entitlement does not need a worker to be employed on a permanent contract or work a specified number of hours each week. The law is intended to safeguard people in flexible, seasonal or agency arrangements as well as those in traditional employment.
This is especially true for Nigerians on work visas in the UK, or Nigerians trying to find their feet in the labour market following relocation through different immigration processes, as knowing employment rights from the get-go can help prevent abuse.
UK Public Holidays and Yearly Leave Entitlement
A key point of UK legislation is that businesses can count bank holidays toward a worker’s 5.6 weeks of statutory entitlement. If a worker’s contract indicates that bank holidays are included in annual leave, then the employer has no need to provide the additional days off on top of the 5.6-week entitlement.
Workers should read their employment contracts closely to see if bank holidays are included within the statutory figure or if they are given as additional days off. This difference could make a substantial difference to the total number of leave days you get in a calendar year, as the UK has a lot of bank holidays each year.