Organisation of working time act, bank holiday allowances

[Matthew19]

I work 12 hour shifts, 4 on followed by 4 off. So 48 hours every 8 days. This equates to 42 hours per week.

With regard to Bank Holidays, my employer says that as this works out at 8 hours per working day for a normal 5 day roster, that we are entitled to 8 hours time in lieu for Bank Holidays, worked or not.

Last year, I worked 5 bank holidays (12 hour shifts) and I feel that for these days, I should be entitled to 12 hours time in lieu as these are the hours that I worked. Fair enough, I accept that 8 hours is correct for those Bank Holidays that I am not rostered to work (this is clear in the Act), but feel I am being short changed when it comes to the days I did work.

Is there anyone familiar with the Organisation of Working Time Act that could offer an opinion on this, Thanks.

 

[luckystar]

I would have thought you’d be entitled to a day in lieu for a day worked. Are you paid an additional rate for working a bank holiday?

 

[Matthew19]

Yes, we do get paid an extra amount for working a sunday or bank holiday, but this is in addition to the days in lieu.

We get a day in lieu for every bank holiday but it's always 8 hours. The ones we work are 12 hour shifts, so I would have thought we would get 12 hours for these days.

 

[Baby boomer]

This can get complicated when you work shift! The rules are set out in S.I. No. 475/1997 - Organisation of Working Time (Determination of Pay For Holidays) Regulations, 1997. They are horribly drafted (like much of our statute book) and not very easy to plough through.

But, to summarize, the Act itself entitles you to, at the employer's choice, either:
- a paid day off on the public holiday
- a paid day off within a month of the public holiday
- an extra days annual leave
- an extra days pay

The Regulations set out that a days pay is one fifth of the normal weekly pay, including any regular bonus or allowances. In your case that would be 8.5 hours pay plus a prorata amount to reflect your Sunday premium allowance.

Neither the Act nor the Regulations spell out the length of the day off in lieu, but, by analogy, it should equally be 8.5 hours. If you were given a full 12 hour shift off in lieu, you'd be doing well! If you're paid for it, you should be getting the 8.5 hours pay adjusted for premia and any regular bonus.

 

[Matthew19]

Thanks Baby Boomer, seems unfair that we don't get the hours that we worked. The act defines a day as one fifth only in relation to days that the employee is not rostered to work, it doesn't specify what a day should be for where an employee works. Would it be worth making an enquiry to the WRC to see what their opinion is?

My main issue is that if someone who wasn't working a shift pattern worked on a bank holiday and worked 12 hours, they would get the benefit of the 12 hours back. I fell like we are being disadvantaged in this regard.

 

[twofor1]

Can’t answer your specific question, but the way it works in my job is:

I work various day shifts of between 7 and 10 hours over 4 - 5 days, my average is 40 hours weekly.

When I work a public holiday I get paid my hourly rate for whatever hours I work that day plus the daily average of hours I worked in the previous 13 weeks.

If I am off on the public holiday, I get paid the daily average of the hours that I worked in the previous 13 weeks.

I personally do not do overtime so generally I get paid 8 hours if not working on a public holiday and 16 hours if I do work that day.

Some of my colleagues with young kids, mortgages etc might work more hours than me so might get paid 9 hours or more for public holidays as their average daily hours over the previous 13 weeks would be higher.

When the public holiday is worked there is also the option to take a day in lieu and it will be paid at the average daily hours over the previous 13 weeks.