HOLIDAY ENTITLEMENT
IRS publishes survey of annual leave
Employers have adopted a "generous approach" to holiday allowances, with the average entitlement now standing at six days above the statutory minimum, according to the 2011 XpertHR annual leave survey by IRS.
The average number of days' holiday given to staff is 34 days, inclusive of bank holidays. The statutory minimum for full-time employees is 28 days. Basic leave entitlement is higher in the public sector. On average, public sector employees receive 29 days, excluding bank holidays, compared with 25 days in manufacturing and production companies and 26 days in other private sector organisations.
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The report also found that, over the past three years:
almost three-quarters of employers that made changes to their leave arrangements increased entitlement
more than half of these organisations said that this was in order to “keep up with competitors” or “demonstrate good practice”.
A final word
"The XpertHR research finds that employers are taking a generous approach to annual leave, which is a relatively low-cost benefit for employees and can provide a useful way to boost terms and conditions at a time when pay awards are low." - Charlotte Wolff, author of the report.
Want to know more?
Title: “Annual leave 2011: the XpertHR survey of employer practice”, IRS Employment Review, 1 August 2011, IRS.
Survey sample: The survey draws on data from 335 organisations employing 461,513 employees.
Availability: For more details about the survey visit www.xperthr.co.uk/article/110011/.aspx.
XpertHR is the “UK's most comprehensive online source of legal compliance, good practice and benchmarking information made available to HR professionals as a single subscription service.” For more information visit www.xperthr.co.uk.