Holiday Pay Query

Post by **Lockardian** » 09 Feb 2017, 01:46

I have a number of holiday hours accrued (in excess of 90 hours).

Are holiday pay hours subject to tax and NI deductions in the same way as standard hours are?

I'm trying to calculate if it will be in my interest to claim the hours this tax year or wait until April (next tax year) when I assume all outstanding hours will be paid together as a lump sum.

toonlad2 · Post by **toonlad2** » 10 Feb 2017, 15:26

xUzi786 · Post by **xUzi786** » 10 Feb 2017, 18:09

Hmrc started charging me tax but i have not reached £11k yet and im on the tax code 1100L, my total earnings is just below £10k. Can i get my tax refunded back to me everything deducted below £11k?

gurpbarnes6 · Post by **gurpbarnes6** » 11 Feb 2017, 17:44

xUzi786 wrote:Hmrc started charging me tax but i have not reached £11k yet and im on the tax code 1100L, my total earnings is just below £10k. Can i get my tax refunded back to me everything deducted below £11k?

Simply everyone gets a personal allowance unless you earn great than £100,000 it's different rules. Earned £11,000 or less in this tax year (6 April 2016 - 5 April 2017) you won't pay tax unless in a particular week/month you earned more so you paid tax. Either way HMRC will refund you normally in September / October of each year, or you can ring HMRC and claim a tax rebate. If you exceed this years allowance than you payback rate tax (20%) £11,001 to £43,000.

With national insurance if you earn between £112-115 this tax year than HMRC will credit you with NI credits but you won't pay NI unless you earned £115.01 @ 12%. So might be worth taking as much holiday when you don't get shifts which is what I do. 5-10th February I booked 15.5hrs holiday as I didn't get work at all, so this means I won't pay NI - £155 Ni allowance divided by my holiday pay which will vary according to your length of time with Angard (£10) = 15.5hrs national insurance free.

toonlad2 · Post by **toonlad2** » 12 Feb 2017, 02:21

Post by **Lockardian** » 10 Mar 2017, 21:12

I know the actual holiday pay rate varies depending on length of service, but does anyone know how they actually calculate it?

For example, in recent weeks I have taken holiday on 3 occasions and each time the holiday hourly rate is slightly different, but despite initially going up, it has now gone down.

17th Feb - 11 hours holiday @ £9.45
24th Feb - 4.5 hours holiday @ £9.46
10th Mar - 16 hours holiday @ £9.43

Despite asking payroll this straightforward question, they can't seem to grasp I'm not querying my normal hourly rate and keep asking me to complete a 'missing hours' form!!

tabact · Post by **tabact** » 11 Mar 2017, 00:05

Angard's holiday rate for AWR qualified staff is £10 but nobody seems to get it. Try sending your query to the holiday email address rather than payroll and you should eventually get a copy and paste reply about how your consultant booked you into the wrong rate but it doesn't matter as holiday is 12.07% of your gross pay and if paid at a lower rate than £10 you'll accrue more hours. You may then query why the mistake made by your consultant couldn't be corrected, there appears to be no answer to this. If you query why your holiday hours balance on the payslip seems to be accrueing at £10 rather than say £9.46 you may find there will be an adjustment in the hours but then again you may not. I've had numerous other explanations but no one seems to be able to tell you why they can't just use the nominal rate of £10 to divide the holiday money pot of 12.07% if you are AWR qualified. Angard agree that the holiday calculation is confusing including this little gem of a statement in my last reply from them "Your holiday rate is not used in any way to calculate your holiday." I'm waiting to see what rate the holiday balance accrues at on my next payslip as I've been told the hours shown are at £9.85 not £10.

It seems the only way of making sure you get paid your full entitlement is to check you have received 12.07% of your gross pay in holiday pay whent they pay out the outstanding balance at the end of the financial year. You can then query the total amount and ask how they calculated it ignoring any variable hourly rates actually paid out for holiday taken.

Post by **Lockardian** » 11 Mar 2017, 00:36

Thanks tabact - I've emailed the Holiday inbox as you suggested and will see what they come back with.

How the heck does it go down as well as up?!

I'll also check at the end of the year if the percentage is correct.

What a nightmare!!

Post by **Lockardian** » 15 Mar 2017, 08:40

I did as you suggested, tabact, and received this reply - pretty much what you anticipated.

Thank you for your email. Please find below a detailed explanation of how your holiday is accrued and why your holiday pay rate is lower than expected but also changing each time you take holiday.

When you start working for Angard you accrue holiday on any hours worked so when you have a processed timesheet holiday is calculated on your gross pay for that week. Your holiday pay rate reflects the base rate in your booking which is the system we use to process your timesheet hours.

If you do not use your holiday regularly your holiday pay rate will stay as an average rate until you use up all your holiday accrued on the lower rate which is why you might be wondering why your pay rate for holiday is still low. For example, on the week you become AWR qualified, if you have not used up all the holiday accrued at the National Minimum Wage rate it will slowly increase as an average until you have used up all these holiday hours. Only when the holiday hours you have on the system equal what you have accrued at the higher rate will your holiday pay rate be £10ph.

We cannot change your holiday pay rate to £10 as soon as you become AWR qualified because if we did this, you would be vastly overpaid for holiday you accrued at the lower rate. This is why we have an average pay rate which will continue to increase the more holiday you use.

That said, your holiday pay rate is not actually used to calculate the holiday you accrue, its purely there to divide your total holiday pot value by something to convert it into hours to take. Holiday is calculated at 12.07% of your weekly gross pay.

The best way to stop this from happening would be to manage your holiday and ensure its taken on a regular basis so that when you become AWR qualified your holiday pay rate increases at the same time.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us.

It's not 100% clear, but I get the gist - and will check in April if the percentage is indeed 12.07%.

What confuses me is that I became AWR qualified in January 2016, so all holiday accrued at the lower rate was taken by April 2016, so surely that wouldn't be a factor now?

pleb · Post by **pleb** » 28 Mar 2017, 16:15

Is it a legal requirement for angard to pay us our (outstanding) holiday pay? I have 42(?) hours left, tried to claim most of em last week but think I accidently sent a blank form, by mistake. Presumably they just put the outstanding amount on the final pay of the financial year?

Post by **Lockardian** » 28 Mar 2017, 18:27

pleb wrote:Is it a legal requirement for angard to pay us our (outstanding) holiday pay? I have 42(?) hours left, tried to claim most of em last week but think I accidently sent a blank form, by mistake. Presumably they just put the outstanding amount on the final pay of the financial year?

They normally pay any outstanding holiday during April. I'm not sure about the legalities, but there would be a hell of a stink kicked up if they withheld accrued holiday pay.