Disappearing Holiday Entitlement - Employers Stating I've Taken More Than I Actually Have

[Beatrixx]

Hi

 

I work for a small business which has no HR department. It's a combination of the administration manager and the finance department who deal with any HR related matters.

 

I'm leaving the company and have asked for a note of my remaining holiday entitlement. They are saying I have no remaining annual leave as I've taken it all. I haven't. I've only taken 5 days. They say I've taken 16 days (I wish). I can prove that I was in the office on the days they say I was on annual leave but it's a proving to be a battle. When I first handed in my notice I was told I had quite a bit of remaining leave. As soon as I say I want to use some of it, it disappears. Can they take away holiday entitlement? What are my rights as an employee if they refuse to correct their records?

 

The holiday year starts on the 1st April, I'm leaving in October.

 

This has happen before but with sick leave. I was reprimanded for taking too much sick leave after being off for 3 days with the flu. When I asked to see my sickness record they had me off for 8 days. Again I could prove I was in the office on the additional 5 days. They only corrected their records when I threaten to get the union involved. I don't want to do this again, I want to leave peacefully. It's a great company to work for, it's just a shame that the HR side is in a shambles.

 

I'm the only person who carries out the type of work I do. It does create problems when I'm not in the office. Holiday requests are a chore and when I do finally get a holiday my line manager is constantly on the phone and e-mail asking me to do work. Booked holidays are cancelled at the very last minute. Same with sickness. Those 3 days I took off, they were constantly checking on me each day. Even when I was sat in the doctor's reception - every 10 minutes, "have you seen the doctor yet?"!! My theory is the additional sick leave was a ploy to ensure I didn't take anymore sick leave in the fear I would lose my job. Needless to say, this disappearing holiday entitlement does not come as a surprise.

 

Thanks

 

B

[ericsbrother]

how is the holiday recorded and by whom? Your records should match with theirs and if they say you were on holiday on such and such dates then it will be easy to prove that you werent.

What I would do is calculate your holiday entitlement from April to your leaving date, subtract the 5 days you took and then send them a demand for the holiday pay after you have left if there is a discrepancy in you final pay. If they agree that you are owed holiday take it at the end of your notice and that way you get the leave you are entitled to. If they dont you will need to send a lba and tell them that you are entitled to x hours pay for leave that was not taken ad they should pay this within the next calendar month or you will issue court proceedings to recover the money and any additional costs incurred.

your inclusion of sick leave in this thread is a red herring, do not even think of using that in any discussion or argument about holiday pay

[Beatrixx]

Thanks ericsbrother

 

The holiday is recorded by the finance officer and the admin manager on an excel spreadsheet. Holiday approvals are via e-mail, which I keep therefore would be quite easy to match up. The finance officer, whose main responsibility this is, is on long term leave, so there is a strong possibility the admin manager has made a mistake. It's the latter that is adamant that the figure they have quoted is correct. The finance officer is usually quite reasonable and hopefully will return prior to my last day with the company.

 

I've taken your point on board with regards to the sick leave and can see that this is irrelevant to the holiday pay/leave. I included it as an example of how they've 'misrecorded' my leave in the past and how it's been very difficult to get them to admit to their mistakes. Following your advice I won't be raising this with them in my holiday discussion.

[renegadeimp]

While it may seem like a great company, it really sounds like theyre fiddling the books. Especially since you say they have prior history doing the same thing.