The analysis also shows:
• Workers are losing out on nearly £3bn worth of paid leave a year. • 9.2% of female workers and 7.2% of male workers are losing out. • The sectors in which workers are most likely to lose out are agriculture (14.9%), mining and quarrying (14.7%) and accommodation and food (13.9%). • The sectors with highest numbers of staff losing out are retail (348,000), education (342,000) and health and social care workers (291,000).
Working people are entitled to a statutory annual minimum of 28 days paid leave (pro rata and including public holidays).
The TUC says the main reasons people are missing out are:
• Workers being set unrealistic workloads that do not allow time to take leave. • Employers deliberately denying holiday requests and managing out people’s leave. • Employers not keeping up to date with the law.
Minimum holiday entitlements are a vital part of reducing overwork, says the TUC. People who work excessive hours are at risk of developing heart disease, stress, mental illness, strokes, and diabetes, which also impacts on co-workers, friends, and relatives.
The TUC wants HMRC to be granted new powers to clamp down on employers who deny staff their statutory holiday entitlement. This would include the power to ensure that workers are fully compensated for missed holidays.
The 2017 Taylor Review on modern work practices proposed that “HMRC should take responsibility for enforcing the basic set of core pay rights that apply to all workers – NMW, sick pay and holiday pay for the lowest paid workers.”
A subsequent government consultation (Feb 2018) said “The government accepts the case for the state enforcing a basic set of core rights for the most vulnerable workers, and intends to move in this direction”.
The TUC says ministers must guarantee all UK workers can take the holidays that they are entitled to.
Back to Contents
In 2010 approximately five million staff days were lost due to overheating 27 July 2018
The Environmental Audit Committee has recommended that government should issue formal guidance to employers to relax dress codes and allow flexible working when heatwave alerts are issued.
The Environmental Audit Committee has published its report into ‘Heatwaves: adapting to climate change’.
Employers must provide a “reasonable” workplace temperature under section 7 of the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 . The Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) has established thermal comfort guidelines for workplaces. They note that indoor temperatures of over 28°C for long periods are likely to result in reduced productivity, and that steps such as relaxing the dress code and encouraging flexible working hours should be taken.The Committee has found that failing to address the danger of heatwaves will threaten the wellbeing of an increasing number of vulnerable people. The Health and Safety Executive has issued an Approved Code of Practice on providing reasonable workplace temperatures. They suggest that the minimum temperature in a workplace should be 16°C, but note that a “meaningful figure cannot be given at the upper end of the scale.” In 2017, the Trades Union Congress called on employers to temporarily relax workplace dress codes to enable staff to work comfortably through the heatwave. However, the design of office buildings can make it difficult to mitigate the high internal gains during a heatwave.
The Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals
Payroll: need to know
cipp.org.uk
Page 143 of 598
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker