Annual Leave and Holiday Pay Policy

Prime Recruitment Services Ltd

Effective date: 05 June 2023
Applies to: Agency workers, temporary workers, casual workers and employees engaged by Prime Recruitment Services Ltd

1. Purpose of this Policy

Prime Recruitment Services Ltd is committed to ensuring that all workers receive their correct statutory annual leave entitlement and holiday pay in accordance with the Working Time Regulations and any other applicable employment legislation.

This policy explains how annual leave is accrued, requested, approved, paid and managed at the end of each holiday year.

2. Holiday Year

Your holiday year will be confirmed in your contract, assignment details, starter documents or written communication from Prime Recruitment Services Ltd.

Unless otherwise stated in writing, your holiday year will run for 12 months from the date your engagement with Prime Recruitment Services Ltd begins.

For example, if your engagement begins on 15 March, your holiday year will run from 15 March to 14 March the following year.

It is each worker’s responsibility to manage their annual leave throughout the holiday year and to ensure that leave is requested in good time before the holiday year ends.

3. Annual Leave Entitlement

Workers are entitled to paid annual leave in line with statutory requirements.

For irregular-hours workers, part-year workers, agency workers or workers whose hours vary from week to week, annual leave will normally accrue based on the hours actually worked.

Unless a different lawful method applies, holiday entitlement will accrue at 12.07% of hours worked during each pay period, subject to the statutory maximum entitlement.

Annual leave does not accrue on periods where no work is carried out, unless required by law.

4. Holiday Pay

Holiday pay will be calculated in accordance with the Working Time Regulations and applicable holiday pay rules.

Holiday pay will be based on the worker’s normal pay where required by law, including any pay elements that must legally be included in the calculation.

Holiday pay will usually be paid when approved annual leave is taken.

Prime Recruitment Services Ltd does not normally pay unused statutory holiday as a substitute for taking annual leave, except where employment or engagement ends.

5. Requesting Annual Leave

All annual leave must be requested in advance using the correct holiday request process.

Workers should give as much notice as possible when requesting leave. As a minimum, workers should normally give notice that is at least twice the length of the holiday requested.

For example, if you wish to take 5 days’ leave, you should normally request this at least 10 days in advance.

Requests must be approved before the leave is taken. Annual leave is not automatically approved simply because it has been requested.

6. Approval or Refusal of Holiday Requests

Prime Recruitment Services Ltd will consider all holiday requests fairly and reasonably.

Holiday requests may be refused where there is a genuine business reason, including but not limited to:

• insufficient notice being given;

• operational requirements;

• client requirements;

• staffing levels;

• multiple workers requesting the same period;

• the worker not having enough accrued holiday available.

Where a request is refused, Prime Recruitment Services Ltd will provide notice in line with legal requirements and will encourage the worker to request alternative dates.

Prime Recruitment Services Ltd will not unreasonably prevent workers from taking their statutory annual leave.

7. Use-It-or-Lose-It Rule

Annual leave should be taken during the holiday year in which it is accrued.

Unused annual leave will not normally carry over into the next holiday year.

Unless carry-over is required by law or agreed in writing by Prime Recruitment Services Ltd, any unused annual leave remaining at the end of the holiday year will be lost.

Workers are strongly encouraged to request and take their annual leave throughout the holiday year and not leave it until the final weeks of the holiday year.

8. End-of-Year Holiday Reminders

Prime Recruitment Services Ltd will take reasonable steps to remind workers to use their annual leave before the end of the holiday year.

This may include reminders by email, text message, payslip information, payroll system records, WhatsApp, staff notices or other written communication.

Workers will be reminded that unused annual leave may be lost if it is not requested and taken before the end of the holiday year, unless there is a legal reason why the leave must be carried over or Prime Recruitment Services Ltd agrees otherwise in writing.

9. Carry-Over of Annual Leave

Annual leave may only be carried over where:

• Prime Recruitment Services Ltd agrees to carry-over in writing;

• the worker has been unable to take leave due to maternity leave, adoption leave, paternity leave, shared parental leave, parental bereavement leave or another statutory family leave;

• the worker has been unable to take leave due to long-term sickness absence;

• Prime Recruitment Services Ltd has not given the worker a reasonable opportunity to take the leave;

• Prime Recruitment Services Ltd has not encouraged the worker to take the leave;

• Prime Recruitment Services Ltd has not informed the worker that unused leave would be lost at the end of the holiday year;

• any other legal requirement applies.

Any agreed carry-over must usually be used by the deadline confirmed by Prime Recruitment Services Ltd. Carry-over is not automatic unless required by law.

10. Responsibility of Workers

Workers are responsible for:

• checking their annual leave balance regularly;

• requesting leave in good time;

• making sure they take their leave before the end of the holiday year;

• raising any query about their balance as soon as possible;

• not leaving all or most of their annual leave until the end of the holiday year.

If a worker believes their holiday balance is incorrect, they must raise this with Prime Recruitment Services Ltd immediately.

11. Holiday During Assignments

Agency workers and temporary workers should be aware that holiday requests may need to be checked against client requirements and assignment cover.

Prime Recruitment Services Ltd will liaise with the client where required, but approval of annual leave remains subject to the correct process being followed.

Workers should not take leave from an assignment without approval.

12. Leaving Prime Recruitment Services Ltd

When a worker’s engagement ends, Prime Recruitment Services Ltd will calculate any accrued but untaken statutory holiday entitlement up to the termination date.

Any holiday pay owed will be paid in the worker’s final pay, subject to any lawful deductions or adjustments.

If a worker has taken more holiday than they have accrued at the point their engagement ends, Prime Recruitment Services Ltd reserves the right to deduct the overpayment from final pay where lawful and permitted under the worker’s contract or written agreement.

13. Incorrect Balances or Payroll Adjustments

Holiday balances shown on payslips or payroll systems are provided for information and may be subject to review, correction or adjustment.

If an error is identified, Prime Recruitment Services Ltd reserves the right to correct the balance, provided that any correction is lawful and properly explained to the worker.

Workers should raise any concerns about their holiday balance promptly so the matter can be reviewed.

14. No Automatic Carry-Over Due to Payslip Balance

A holiday balance appearing on a payslip or payroll system after the end of a holiday year does not automatically mean that the leave has been carried over.

Carry-over will only apply where it is required by law or agreed in writing by Prime Recruitment Services Ltd.

15. Review of this Policy

Prime Recruitment Services Ltd may amend this policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, payroll processes, client requirements or business needs.

Any updated version will replace previous versions from the effective date stated.

16. Questions

Any questions about annual leave, holiday pay or holiday balances should be sent to:

Prime Recruitment Services Ltd
Email: [email protected]