denglisher89

Help!!! I signed a contract for a year in November and made a verbal agreement with my boss that if I wanted to leave earlier then I would give him 2 months notice. I gave him my notice over a month ago and have told him I would like to leave in August.

In my contract it says I am entitled to 30days annual paid holidays. I have already taken 4 and worked out that by the time I leave I would be owed 18 more. I went to him today to find out whether he wanted me to take them before I leave or whether he just wanted to pay them out to me in August.

He then informed me that because I was terminating my contract early that he isn't legally obligated to pay me or give them to me!! SURELY this can't be right, does anyone know?? Any help would be highly appreciated!!

Rosemary

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

rachelk

As I understand it you are entitled to a pro-rata share of your annual holidays and any untaken days should be paid to you in your finiquito. I'd check with your union first though to be sure.

Or give a later leaving date and tell him you'll be taking the 18 days first?

Scribble

uk or spain?
Holiday ispro rata by month so they have to eother pay you for it or let you take it.
it's 5 months since Nov so you get 5months/12 months x 30 days - 4 taken = 8.5 left.

denglisher89

Thanks for your help, this is pretty much confirming what I thought. I am working in Andalucia, in the south of Spain.

I don't have a union, does anyone know any websites or anything where I can see this somewhere oficial so I can take it to my boss if need be??

Domino

ISTR not so very long ago in the UK companies used to take people on and they had to work a year before gaining entitlement to holidays.

Theoretically the WTD (which is Eu instigated) was supposed to stop that, but it will all depend on the contract.
Problem is, if you should leave early taking the 18 days then you will probably find that 18 days will be deducted from your final pay - if you get any.

And people wonder why rumours start about their business and they get a bad reputation as an employer.

Spanish or English employer ??

amideislas

It's not exactly a sellers' market is it? For every employee who wants to argue about a few days of holiday they're "entitled" to (as they take early leave on the employer who so far lived up to their part of the deal), there are 5 others delighted to get any work at all.

My advice would be to just move on, but if those few days of holiday are all-important to you, then take your employer to court. You might even end up with a few bob in your pocket rather than losing it all. But it will take a lot of your time and you'll certainly burn all bridges in the process.

Domino

some time ago, in the UK, I worked for what was a fairly good company.
I had been there a couple of years and they were extremely busy, even in the office we were on overtime with a commitment to a min number of hours per week. I didn't take much holiday and had 2 weeks left as we approached the end of the holiday year. I discussed with my manager who kept wanting me to be there to keep on top of the work. I said I would forego the holiday if the company paid me time and a half - I could see no reason to pay tax on my holiday pay if I was the loser at the end of the year. Company refused, so I took the time off.
And came back to a mountain of work and to find that overtime accrued for the 2 weeks of the month had been lost because I hadn't met the commitment for the month.