Managers could now face staff requests for time off to mark non-Christian religious festivals under the new Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003.
Just one in 10 employers operates a formal policy for granting additional time off for non-Christian religious festivals, according to research published by IRS Employment Review today (9 December 2003).
Less than two in 10 employers operate informal arrangements for staff to be absent at these times. Christmas and Easter are the two periods in the year when holidays tend to be fixed and both coincide with Christian festivals.
The results of the survey into the increasingly complex issue of holiday entitlement are published in the new issue (789) of IRS Employment Review (www.irsemploymentreview.com), published by LexisNexis IRS.
Other key findings:
-Average basic annual leave for all 266 employee groups surveyed is 24.2 days a year, although this ranged from 14 to 36 days (excluding bank and public holidays).
-Two-thirds of employee groups benefit from service-related increments to boost basic entitlement.
-Three in 10 employee groups receive additional ìcompany daysî in addition to basic leave.
-Just under half (48%) of the survey respondents dictate when employees can take some of their annual leave entitlement.
-Three-quarters of employees (74%) are allowed to carry forward unused holiday to the next year, although there is usually a cut-off point and a limit on the number of days.
-Holiday pay is most often calculated as the annual basic salary divided by 260.
-The most common compensation arrangements for employees required to work on bank and public holidays is a payment at time-and-a-half, plus time off in lieu.
Annual Leave - what can be carried forward?
-The public sector is most likely to offer staff an automatic right to carry over annual leave, where 63% of the arrangements provided guaranteed carry-forward of at least some of the remaining holiday entitlement. One-fifth (22%) asked employees to seek permission first.
-In the services sector, 42% of employee groups are allowed to carry forward at least part of their outstanding holiday entitlement as a right, while an additional 40% require employees to seek permission first.
-Employers in the manufacturing and production sector are least likely to allow carry-forward, with one-third (34%) dictating that all holiday must be taken within the leave year.
Sheila Attwood, researcher/writer, IRS Employment Review said:
ìAlthough we would all welcome more annual leave, employees are often not able to take advantage of their full entitlement during the leave year due to work commitments. The Working Time Regulations do not entitle a worker to carry unused leave forward, but many employers have arrangements in place for employees who find themselves with surplus leave at the end of the year.
The new legislation does not say that employers must provide time and facilities for religious observance in the workplace. But Acas advises employers to consider whether their own policies, rules and procedures indirectly discriminate against staff of particular religions and, if so, whether reasonable changes could be made. Time off for religious holidays is one issue that has been discussed and it will be interesting to see how this new legislation will affect the UK workforce in the coming months.
The full survey is published in IRS Employment Review available from customer services on 020- 8662 2000, price 30 or can be found on
Religious holidays at work - a challenge for employers
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