No longer paid for bank holiday by employer

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witchymand17

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Hi,
I am hoping someone on here can advise me please.
I have been working a three day week at my job (Tues, Wed and Thurs) and have also been receiving Jobseekers for the remainder days. My employer always paid me for a bank holiday approx €60 every time there was a bank holiday.
Last month my employer changed my working week to Mon, Tues and Wed which I am fine with, however this week I did not receive the bank holiday extra €60 in my wages. I asked them was there a mistake and they said no, that I now work Mondays so they don't have to give it to me anymore.
I don't really understand this, is this correct?
Thank you.
 
witchymand17 said:
I asked them was there a mistake and they said no, that I now work Mondays so they don't have to give it to me anymore.
I don't really understand this, is this correct?
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No it isn't - assuming that you worked on the Bank Holiday Monday.

Part-time employees​

If you work for your employer for at least 40 hours in the 5 weeks before the public holiday and it falls on a day you normally work, you get paid for the day even if you don’t work. If you have to work that day, you are entitled to an extra day's pay.

If you don’t normally work on a certain day but it’s a public holiday, you should get paid one-fifth of your weekly pay. Even if you never work on public holidays, you still get paid a fifth of your weekly pay as compensation for the public holiday. Again, you must have worked for your employer for at least 40 hours in the 5 weeks before the public holiday.

You can count time spent on annual leave as ‘time worked’ when calculating the 40 hours worked in the 5 weeks before the public holiday.
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That's from here: https://www.citizensinformation.ie/...onditions/leave-and-holidays/public-holidays/

Plenty more on the WRC website.
 
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Sounds to me as though the employer may be right.

Most bank holidays fall on a Monday.

Until recently, OP didn't normally work Mondays, but did get paid for a bank holiday — as they should be, per the WRC website.

Now, OP does normally work Mondays. I'm guessing that the OP doesn't work on a bank holiday Monday but does get paid. Again, that's as is should be, per the WRC website.

There's only an issue if the OP is working on a bank holiday Monday, but isn't getting an extra day's pay for doing so.
 
No, I didn't work on the 4th, however I never worked a public holiday before, so don't really get how I was getting paid for it before but now don't?
 
You should be paid for Monday as normal.

You won't get any extra payment. You used to get extra payment because you weren't getting time off work in respect of a bank holiday. Now, you get the time off, so you don't get the extra pay.

If a bank holiday falls on a Thursday or Friday (as 25 and 26 December will this year) you will be paid extra.
 
You should be paid. Did you get the same pay for the 28, 29 & 30th July as you got for the 4th, 5th and 6th August?

If you did not get the same pay then you have a problem.

If you got the same pay but not the €60 extra for a public holiday then you don’t have a problem. What you have benefited though this week is that you only worked 2 days and last week you worked 3 days.

Completely changed my reply as I think I misunderstood the original post.
 
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OP is querying the removal of the extra separate allowance. They have been paid for working 3 days as normal.

Total pay will be less as you are working less days. You are now getting the working day off (the bank holiday) and being paid your normal pay for that day, instead of being paid the extra allowance for it.
 
I believe OPs new pay is correct, from what they've said.

They now normally work Monday, but not bank holidays. They are paid for Mondays they work and for bank holidays. They are no longer due an extra allowance for Monday bank holidays, as they get the day off in lieu. Intuitively, less total working time means less pay.
 
Let's put some made up figures on this (ignore tax etc., for the min)

Daily rate of pay is €80
I work Tues, Wed, Thurs so I earn €80 x 3 = €240
if there's a public holiday on the Monday of that week, I'm entitled to public holiday pay at (say) €40
So I am paid for the public holiday and worked three days that week.

My days are changed to Mon, Tues, Wed so still get paid 80 *3 = €240 for a regular week
There's a public holiday on Mon, which I don't work, but I still get paid €240.
So I am paid for the public holiday and worked two days that week.
 
DannyBoyD said:
Daily rate of pay is €80
I work Tues, Wed, Thurs so I earn €80 x 3 = €240
if there's a public holiday on the Monday of that week, I'm entitled to public holiday pay at (say) €40
So I am paid for the public holiday and worked three days that week.

My days are changed to Mon, Tues, Wed so still get paid 80 *3 = €240 for a regular week
There's a public holiday on Mon, which I don't work, but I still get paid €240.
So I am paid for the public holiday and worked two days that week.
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I guess it depends what someone values more. If the income is more important than an extra day off I can understand why it might be frustrating.

Given the relatively low income and only working three days a week max I can see why someone would prefer the money.
 
faketales said:
Given the relatively low income and only working three days a week max I can see why someone would prefer the money.
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Thats a conscious choice they made though. Plenty of 5 and 6 day jobs out there. And they get a higher pro rata bank holiday pay than their colleague working the 5 days !
 
So if you are working a 3 day week choosing the right days is important.

I have a number of colleagues working part time who chose to work Mondays to get the days off. I guess they aren’t signing on the other days. That’s the issue here I think.
 
witchymand17 said:
No, I didn't work on the 4th, however I never worked a public holiday before, so don't really get how I was getting paid for it before but now don't?
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It doesn’t really matter what three days of the week you work. If you work for three days, you are paid for them. A part-time worker is also entitled to public holiday benefit if they work 40 hours in the previous 5 weeks.

If one of your normal days happens to be a public holiday and your employer gives you a day off on the day (eg. if the business is closed) then you are still paid for your normal three days even though you only work two.

If one of your normal days happens to be a public holiday and your employer expects you to work on that day (eg. if the business stays open) your employer pays you for working on the public holiday so you get paid for four days even though you only work three.

If a public holiday is on a different day to any of your normal three days, your employer pays your three days plus an additional 1/5th of your weekly pay as compensation for the public holiday.
 
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witchymand17 said:
Last month my employer changed my working week to Mon, Tues and Wed which I am fine with, however this week I did not receive the bank holiday extra €60 in my wages. I asked them was there a mistake and they said no, that I now work Mondays so they don't have to give it to me anymore.
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If you are rostered to work on a public holiday, you are entitled to payment even if you’re given the day off.

However, if you’re required to work as normal on a public holiday, you’re entitled to a day in lieu, expressed either as pay or as an extra day off.

This extract from citizens information explains.

Part-time employees​

If you work for your employer for at least 40 hours in the 5 weeks before the public holiday and it falls on a day you normally work, you get paid for the day even if you don’t work. If you have to work that day, you are entitled to an extra day's pay.
 
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