According to a report by the TUC, over 850,000 workers are losing out on holidays due to a loophole in the working time directive, while another 400,000 are being cheated out of their entitlement by rogue employers breaking Britain’s law on paid holiday.

TUC General Secretary, John Monks, said: “There is no good reason why UK workers should have the lowest paid holiday rights in the EU. We are a prosperous country and can certainly afford to raise our minimum standards. Indeed, there is evidence that more holidays and increased productivity go hand in hand. The average trade union member already gets 37 days per year of annual leave and bank holidays. Our concern is more for those vulnerable workers who do not enjoy the protection of a trade union.”

Rights and loopholes
– UK workers are entitled to a minimum of 20 days annual leave.
– British workers must rely on the generosity of their employers for entitlement to the UK’s 8 bank holidays. EU regulation does not differentiate between bank holidays and annual leave as it was assumed that a member state would not allow employers to ignore public holidays.
– This loophole in the working time directive means 850,000 UK workers are losing out on some of their holidays.
– Another 400,000 (2.4% of all full-time employees) are being cheated out of their holidays by an illegal breach of workers rights.

Compared with the rest of Europe, the UK workers have the least public holidays and legal annual leave entitlement combined. The EU average is 34. In the UK it is just 20 while in Germany it is 32 and in France it is 36. Austria tops the league with 38.

The UK Government is planning to review a number of aspects of the law on working time during the coming year. The TUC is calling for them to:
– Launch a vigorous campaign to catch employers who flout the law on holidays.
– Close the bank holiday loophole.
– Set out a timetable for introducing 3 new bank holidays, to bring us up to the EU average.
– Adopt a minimum standard for UK employees of four weeks paid annual leave plus 11 paid bank holidays – a total of 31 days paid leave for full-time workers with pro-rata arrangements for those working part-time.