SME employees entitled to extra holiday

Date: 29th September 2008

Employees of small businesses will soon be entitled to additional annual leave following a change in legislation.

From April 1st next year, the minimum entitlement to holiday per year will increase from 4.8 to 5.6 weeks, signalling an extra four days off for staff members.

It will be up to an employer's discretion as to whether the increase leave will included public holidays, as by law they are not included in employees' minimum leave entitlement.

According to the Working Time Regulations Act, each member of a workforce is entitled to a week's pay for each week of leave.

Employers that require additional information on how changes to the law will affect their business are advised to visit www.businesslink.gov or to consult an accountant.

A spokesman for HSBC last week advised small to medium enterprises that online banking was "extremely secure" in a bid to encourage more businesses to use the service.