5 day to 3 day week - holiday entitlements

Earlier this year (beginning July) I was moved from a 5 day week (39 hour) to a 3 day week (24 hour). Our holiday entitlements were originally the statutory minimum of 20 days per annum. My employer is saying that our annual leave requirements have reduced to 16 days for 2009 - 10 days at a 5 day working week for 6 months, and 6 days at a 3 day working week for the remaining 6 months.

I have checked citizensinformation.ie and found their information a little hard to relate directly to my case. They say you can choose any of the 3 options below:

• Based on the employee's working hours during what is called the leave year, which runs from April to March. An employee who has worked at least 1,365 hours in the leave year (that is, an average working week of 26.25 hours) is entitled to the maximum of 4 weeks' annual leave. Many employers use the calendar year (January-December) instead of the official leave year to calculate entitlement
• By allowing 1/3 of a working week for each calendar month in which the employee has worked at least 117 hours
• 8% of the hours worked in the leave year, subject to a maximum of 4 weeks

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Under the first set of criteria, I am entitled to 4 working weeks holidays - is that 4 weeks at 3 or 5 day?
Using the 3 option, I am entitled to over 4 weeks again - but I have the same problem with this as I'm unsure how to calculate the working week.

I presume that this is a very common problem at the moment, and would appreciate any advice you can give.

Trillian

PS Mods I thought this was the most suitable forum - please move if I have posted in the incorrect place.

It sounds to me like your employer has worked out your holidays fairly.

The info you found on citizensinformations seems quite general and refers to a maximum(as opposed to a minimum) of four weeks.

Thanks for the response dubrov. I am aware that it refers to a maximum of four weeks, not a minimum, but I am looking for a more accurate definition of how holiday entitlements can be worked out for this year as I took my annual leave in June prior to being informed of the 3 day week, not unreasonably assuming that I would be working a five day week for the remainder of the year. My employer is now requesting that I take the additional 4 days as unpaid leave now, which is over a weeks salary at a time when things are already tough.