Our German Desk
In 2024-2025, both Christmas and New Year’s Day fall on a Wednesday, and Boxing Day and 2 January 2025 both fall on a Thursday. Accordingly, all of these public holidays are to be observed on the actual days they fall.
Public holidays that fall in a closedown period and would otherwise be working days for employees are to be observed as public holidays (and not counted as annual holidays).
If an employee becomes sick or injured (or their partner/spouse/dependant becomes sick or injured), suffers a bereavement or becomes entitled to take family violence leave before taking annual holidays and it continues into the annual holidays, then the employer must allow the employee to take:
- Any period of sickness or injury that the employee would otherwise take as an annual holiday as sick leave;
- Any period related to the bereavement that the employee would otherwise take as an annual holiday as bereavement leave; and
- Any period related to the effects on the employee of family violence that the employee would otherwise take as an annual holiday as family violence leave.
If an employee becomes sick or injured (or their partner/spouse/dependant becomes sick or injured) during annual holidays, then they may, with their employer’s agreement, take those days as sick leave (rather than annual holidays).
However, if an employee suffers a bereavement or becomes entitled to family violence leave during annual holidays then the employer must allow the employee to take bereavement leave or family violence leave.
Public holidays are usually to be paid at an employee’s relevant daily pay (as is sick leave, bereavement leave, family violence leave and alternative holidays). This means the amount of pay that the employee would have received had the employee worked that day. Do not forget that relevant daily pay can include productivity or incentive-based payments, commissions, and overtime if those payments would have otherwise been received for work, including the day concerned.
Also, note that an employer cannot simply elect to use average daily pay (which involves a statutory gross earnings formula) instead of relevant daily pay. Average daily pay may only be used if it is not possible or practicable to determine an employee’s relevant daily pay or when the employee’s daily pay varies within the pay period when the holiday or leave falls.
If you have any questions about holiday or leave entitlements over the festive period, please get in touch with our Employment Team or your usual contact at Hesketh Henry.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this article is current at the date of publishing and is of a general nature. It should be used as a guide only and not as a substitute for obtaining legal advice. Specific legal advice should be sought where required.
