[Ian Rochester]

For those of you who employ are you aware that the holiday entitlements change as of 1st Oct 2007, moves from minimum of 20 days (inc Bank Holidays) to 24 days (inc bank holidays).  Then in April 2009 it is being increased to 28 days (inc bank holidays)

Make sure you have it in your costings if you are only paying minimum holidays at the moment.


Extract from www.direct.gov.uk

The basics of holiday rights
There is a minimum right to paid holiday, but your employer may offer more than this. The main things you should know about holiday rights are:

from 1 October this year you are entitled to a minimum of 4.8 weeks
the entitlement will increase again to 5.6 weeks from 1 April 2009
those working part-time are entitled to the same level of holiday pro rata (so 4.8 then 5.6 times your usual working week)

you start building up holiday as soon as you start work
your employer can control when you take your holiday
you get paid your normal pay for your holiday
when you finish a job, you get paid for any holiday you’ve not taken
bank and public holidays in Britain can be included in your minimum entitlement 
 
 
 

[NWH]

And that dosen`t count the times when they just don`t come in,you might not have to pay them for that but it`s valuable time that you won`t have to catch up on all that paid holiday.That`s why i keep saying it`s not worth the aggro.

[Russell Macdonald]

And that dosen`t count the times when they just don`t come in,you might not have to pay them for that but it`s valuable time that you won`t have to catch up on all that paid holiday.That`s why i keep saying it`s not worth the aggro.

I would never take some one on, It seems to me the list of their rights are getting
longer & cost the employer more & more it's not worth the grief.

[NWH]

Everyone i speak to these days say the same thing.

[Ian Rochester]

Have to disagree, we have 9 working for us now, the window cleaners are all paid piece rate and it works very well and they are well paid.

Yes, entitlements change, but you just factor those into your prices, as for the the hassle, there isn't a great deal, just deal with t as it happens. 

I could never have the lifestyle I have now if I worked just by myself.  I went on holiday last week, came back on friday and everything is still ticking over nicely, money has gone into the bank and they have picked up, priced and done 14 new houses whilst I was away.

[Helen]

There can be difficult times when employing, but as said it is great when you still have ££ coming in while you are not working yourself. OK, the extra Hol entitlement has not gone down well with any business large or small, but only brings  our country into line with the leaders in Europe. Germany, France etc have been getting 6 weeks paid per year since the eighties at least! We have just recently "let one person go" and for the time being, we are not replacing and spreading the work between others, which has worked for the last few weeks, we'll see how that goes once we get to the winter months. If you can get one person to just bring in an extra £12 per day (after expenses) this more than covers the extr holiday entitlement, let alone the price increases which follow

[Paul Coleman]

Well I suppose the higher holiday entitlement is right really.  Let's face it.  Most employees in most professions get at least four weeks PLUS bank holidays off and have done so for many years past.  Four weeks INCLUDING bank holidays only gave someone 12 days off when they could actually have a choice about when to take them.  I was a part-time employee in addition to my self-employment back in 2002.  That year we had the Queen's golden jubilee which gave an extra day off for most people.  However, those on the minimum holiday entitlement just had that day deducted from their annual holiday allowance.

[windowwashers]

If I was an employee I would be as happy as larry with the extra time off. all workers (or should I say most) deserve their holidays, all things in this world go up as do prices we charge, so when this happens we just factor that in with the price rates for the year  (about time they drop the tax rates though  : 

[Helen]

ooooh tax rates....now that really could start me off on one!

[Ian Rochester]

Go limited and avoid the higher level tax band

[Helen]

trouble is that the good ole government wants us to be like "other" europeans in many respects, but they seem to not include income tax in that list of theirs!!!!

[Russell Macdonald]

trouble is that the good ole government wants us to be like "other" europeans in many respects, but they seem to not include income tax in that list of theirs!!!!

It's not just income tax, it's every tax, we are the highest taxed in Europe & get the least for it.

[futureclean]

there is also an unpaid 13 weeks entitlement to employees who have babies to take in the first five years of their childs life called 'bonding leave'  (that is per child)

[windowwashers]

Go limited and avoid the higher level tax band

let me know more please about that comment, as have never looked into that. Maybe I should do.

[Ian Rochester]

That is fully recoverable from the taxman, as is sick pay.