Recent analysis by the Trade Union Congress (TUC) suggests that female workers are less likely to take their full annual leave entitlement than men are. The TUC’s analysis also provides a number of startling statistics such as:

1. 1 in 14 workers are not getting their legal entitlement to paid annual leave.
2. Nearly two million workers are not getting the minimum entitlement they are due from their employer.
3. Over 1 million workers are not getting any paid annual leave from their employer at all.
4. 3% of the workforce are women who are not getting their minimum entitlements compared to 5.9% who are men receiving less than they are entitled to.
5. In the Yorkshire and Humber region, 6.7% of workers (148,000) are getting too few paid holidays compared to national levels at generally around 7% of the workforce.
6. The TUC estimates that workers are missing out on £3.1 billion of paid leave each year.
7. The number of Employment Tribunal claims for failure to provide paid annual leave has more than doubled since Tribunal fees were abolished in 2017 following the Supreme Court’s judgment that such fees were unlawful. Most claims are for several hundred pounds but have ranged from £18.94 to £11,000.
8. The TUC provided a number of reasons for employees not taking their entitlement to leave including unrealistic workloads that do not provide time to take leave and employers deliberately denying leave requests or managing out people’s leave so it is too late to take it before the end of the leave year. It is also suggested that employers are not fully aware of their legal obligations to provide paid annual leave to workers.

How to ensure your business is treating employees fairly

Businesses and employers must be aware of their legal obligations to provide paid annual leave to workers and ensure that all staff, regardless of their gender, get their legal entitlement to paid annual leave. Failure to meet the minimum legal requirements regarding annual paid leave and their legal holiday entitlement may leave your business vulnerable to legal action.

For more information on any of the employment law topics discussed in this article and or to arrange a consultation so we can assist you in ensuring your business remains compliant, please contact Jonathan Dale, head of our employment law team, directly by emailing jonathan.dale@andrewjackson.co.uk or speak to one of the team today by calling 01482 325242.