Gardening Leave
Author
Discussion

bigweb

Original Poster:

833 posts

257 months

Tuesday 26th November 2013
quotequote all
Earlier this month I told my employer of my desire to leave the company. We agreed that there would be a 2 week period where I handed over my customers to another Rep and then I would hand in my notice and be put on gardening leave.

I officially handed it in on the 19th of Nov and I have received an email from HR detailing that I will be paid until the 19th of December.
In the letter it also says that I will not be paid for the 13 days holiday I have left as these will be taken while I am on gardening leave.

Is this correct? I had been led to believe that I would get paid my holiday seperately.

They have also said my comission payments will stop from the date I handed the notice in is this correct?

Also should I be paid car allowance while I am on gardening leave as there is no mention of this in the email.

Any help appreciated

CountZero23

1,288 posts

207 months

Tuesday 26th November 2013
quotequote all
No, you need to be paid for your one month notice period. Gardening leave refers to being paid for your notice period but not being required to come into work.

What they are suggesting is usiing your remaining holiday to leave early, you could potentially demand to be paid for your holiday but then they could require you to work your full notice period.

You got something else lined up?

bigweb

Original Poster:

833 posts

257 months

Tuesday 26th November 2013
quotequote all
I thought it didn't sound correct making me take holiday for gardening leave. Thanks

Nothing lined up yet. I have a number of things in the pipeline which I needed time to go to interviews etc for but no formal offers yet.

I will be fine though I hope!

davek_964

11,227 posts

204 months

Tuesday 26th November 2013
quotequote all
Our company made redundancies recently and we were told we were expected to use up our holiday during notice period - and this was true even if gardening leave was given. An independent consultant present at our rep meetings confirmed they could mandate this and even implied it was fairly common.

However we were also told that you are entitled to all your normal benefits during your notice period. You are still employee under the same conditions after all.

Cyberprog

2,324 posts

212 months

Tuesday 26th November 2013
quotequote all
Also have you checked that you are entitled to all of those holiday days? If you leave part way through a holiday year, you will only be entitled to a pro-rata amount of holiday.

bigweb

Original Poster:

833 posts

257 months

Tuesday 26th November 2013
quotequote all
Cyberprog said:
Also have you checked that you are entitled to all of those holiday days? If you leave part way through a holiday year, you will only be entitled to a pro-rata amount of holiday.
I'm probably entitled to 11 of the 13 as ours runs Jan to Jan

The Moose

23,675 posts

238 months

Wednesday 27th November 2013
quotequote all
I'd be concerned about the commission also?

davepoth

29,395 posts

228 months

Wednesday 27th November 2013
quotequote all
bigweb said:
I thought it didn't sound correct making me take holiday for gardening leave. Thanks
Technically you're still employed. If they've done it properly you are supposed to be available to work if required (obviously you won't be) but that's the legal nicety of it. Let's face it, flicking through job websites at home is much nicer than flicking through job websites in the office. wink

bigweb

Original Poster:

833 posts

257 months

Wednesday 27th November 2013
quotequote all
So basically as long as I make myself available to work over the period they can't make me take holidays.

I need to get back onto them as I have still been taking calls from members of staff and customers asking me questions etc

anonymous-user

83 months

Wednesday 27th November 2013
quotequote all
Companies are entitled to require you to take holiday at a time they specify. This can include gardening leave,but they are required to give notice of 2x the period of holiday they want you to take. If this sin't possible then they can require you to take the amount that is possible and probably pay the rest.

A useful quote is below

'Under reg.15 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1833) an employer may nominate dates on which an employee must take some or all of his or her statutory annual holiday entitlement, provided that advance notice is given.
The notice required is a minimum of twice as many days as the number of days' holiday that the employer wishes the employee to take. For example, the employer would have to give at least two weeks' notice in advance of the start date of a period of one week's holiday leave.
These provisions may, however, be varied or excluded by a relevant agreement set up between the employer and appropriate workers' representatives. Where no such agreement exists, these provisions will apply'

bigweb

Original Poster:

833 posts

257 months

Wednesday 27th November 2013
quotequote all
Thanks thats just what I needed.


bigweb

Original Poster:

833 posts

257 months

Wednesday 27th November 2013
quotequote all
They are referring to a clause in my contract which states this but I have never had a copy of this and I'm pretty sure I haven't signed this.

Shouldn't the fact that I was told by my manager that I would be paid my holiday days mean this doesn't matter?

Cyberprog

2,324 posts

212 months

Wednesday 27th November 2013
quotequote all
A Statutory Instrument will trump whatever the contract says. You cannot sign away the rights.

bigweb

Original Poster:

833 posts

257 months

Wednesday 27th November 2013
quotequote all
Cyberprog said:
A Statutory Instrument will trump whatever the contract says. You cannot sign away the rights.
What does this mean?

Cyberprog

2,324 posts

212 months

Wednesday 27th November 2013
quotequote all
bigweb said:
What does this mean?
It means this:

wsurfa said:
'Under reg.15 of the Working Time Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1833) an employer may nominate dates on which an employee must take some or all of his or her statutory annual holiday entitlement, provided that advance notice is given.
The notice required is a minimum of twice as many days as the number of days' holiday that the employer wishes the employee to take. For example, the employer would have to give at least two weeks' notice in advance of the start date of a period of one week's holiday leave.
These provisions may, however, be varied or excluded by a relevant agreement set up between the employer and appropriate workers' representatives. Where no such agreement exists, these provisions will apply'
So unless your contract varies the notice that is required for holiday, then you cannot sign away that right given by the statutory instrument. If you gave notice on the 19th of November, they were required to give you 26 Days notice of the 13 Days holiday that needed to be taken. I.e. that your holiday would start around the 16th of December. However as they reduce the number of days you need to take, so does the notice period.

Edited by Cyberprog on Wednesday 27th November 21:23

anonymous-user

83 months

Wednesday 27th November 2013
quotequote all
bigweb said:
What does this mean?
That a contract cannot override a statutory right.

Perec

28,176 posts

251 months

Wednesday 27th November 2013
quotequote all
bigweb said:
Earlier this month I told my employer of my desire to leave the company. We agreed that there would be a 2 week period where I handed over my customers to another Rep and then I would hand in my notice and be put on gardening leave.

I officially handed it in on the 19th of Nov and I have received an email from HR detailing that I will be paid until the 19th of December.
In the letter it also says that I will not be paid for the 13 days holiday I have left as these will be taken while I am on gardening leave.

Is this correct? I had been led to believe that I would get paid my holiday seperately.

They have also said my comission payments will stop from the date I handed the notice in is this correct?

Also should I be paid car allowance while I am on gardening leave as there is no mention of this in the email.

Any help appreciated
Be careful here. Under EU Directive 13/b/5/EC they COULD insist that the leave you take / are forced to take is used to actually undertake gardening.

In France, Belgium and Germany there are documented cases of people incurring greater costs whilst undertaking their responsibilities under the Gardening Directive than they have been paid in salary.

Ghent in Belgium won "Best Kept European City" in 2012 almost entirely as a result of Gardening Leave paid by ArcelorMittal and Volvo Trucks.



bigweb

Original Poster:

833 posts

257 months

Wednesday 27th November 2013
quotequote all
Ha I'm pretty sure they aren't gonna have we watering the plants!