This is a little random, but the folks here have been helpful in the past with non 'tech' problems so thought I'd see if anybody here has any info that would be useful for me. My partner works on a part time contract of 20hrs a week which is split over 3 days (Mon 8hrs, Weds 6hrs and Fri 6hrs). She has a holiday/leave allowance that is used hourly, so if she wants a day off she has to book 6 or 8 hours off. We have 2 kids, one at school the other at nursery. Since May my partner has used 1hr of leave every Monday to pick the littlest one up from nursery, she is entitled to enough leave that this is possible throughout the entire year. The company she now works for are saying that she can no longer have this 1hr off as she isn't fulfilling her contracted hours, which technically she isn't but as she is using time from her leave allowance (which she is entitled to use on an hourly basis, and there is no wording in the contract that states she can't book the time as she has been) I don't see how this should matter. I've googled about but can't seem to find anything useful, so if anybody has anything useful to add it would be helpful, and before anybody pipes up saying just pick the boy up an hour later, that's exactly what we'll do if we have to it just means that he has to have his dinner at nursery instead of with us.
How long has your partner been doing this? If it's been more than 6 months, I'd say she has a good chance of arguing that this has been an accepted practice, and that by not complaining before now that company has tacitly agreed with her way of using holiday. You could also argue that by insisting that holiday is taken as whole days that this is a contract change - which is something that an employer cannot just do without consulting with the employees first I have to say, though, that this is the first time I've heard of a contract where holiday is taken hourly, even for hourly-paid workers. Normally, holiday is taken in blocks of whole- or half-days, and you get paid holiday pay for those hours that you would normally work within that holiday period).
Does your wife have to fill out any "holiday" forms weekly/monthly to say how many hours that week/month she has had.?
All leave has to be requested in the standard way, requesting the leave which has to be authorised by management, which is my big issue with it all. They have been authorising the leave for 7ish months without any problems and only now decided to bring it up. The hourly holiday is a throwback from when the contract was directly run by the MOD, it has since been 'farmed' out to contractors, with various changes to the terms of employees contracts but nothing which changes the hourly leave. The previous contractor didn't have any issues with this, whilst the new contractor apparently now has an issue, She has been doing this since the beginning of May so 7ish months.
If she was working for the MOD and now the job has been transferred to another employer, she will be transferred under TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings, Protection of Employemt) legislation which means that she transfers to the new employer on exactly the same terms and conditions as her contract with the MOD.
at least half of holidays have to be taken in complete days. Working time directive = four weeks per year. She'll have to take six complete days off. I've not run a business for the last six years it might of changed.
What Fibblebot said. Although TUPE rights only lasts for so long until all T&C's of your new employer come into effect. (I take a pay hit in June next year because of a previous protected wage). Might be worth seeing how long/what terms are protected if any. Generally the new employer tests the water to see what they can get away with so they may be in the wrong for now. It is also possible her previous line manager gave special consideration that he/she was not contractually obliged to.
