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date: Wednesday 17 December 2003 embargo: 00:01 hrs Friday 19 December |
Attention: industrial, business and social affairs correspondents, newsdesks, planning
Three million get no Christmas holiday pay from ‘Scrooge bosses’
‘Scrooge bosses’ will send over three million employees home on Christmas Day with no holiday pay, according to an analysis of official figures released by the TUC today (Friday). The research, part of the TUC’s ‘It’s about time’ campaign to end the UK’s long-hours culture, also shows that three-quarters of a million people will work on Christmas Day with no guarantee of extra pay and over 35,000 employees will work for nothing.
Half the people working on Christmas Day are either in the nursing and social care sector or work in hotels and restaurants.
The UK is the only country in Europe where employees don’t have the right to holiday pay if they take bank holidays off and where companies are able to include bank holidays in the 20 days annual leave their staff are legally entitled do. The TUC is asking the European Commission to offer UK employees and families the chance of an early Christmas present by using their current review of the working time rules to introduce:
- a legal right to holiday pay if bank holidays are not worked.
- for those who have to work on bank holidays, a choice between being paid double time, or normal time plus a paid day's holiday in lieu at a later date.
- a legal right to take at least four weeks annual paid leave plus paid bank holidays.
- The TUC is also calling on the UK government to introduce three new bank holidays to bring the UK in line with the European average.
- Brendan Barber, TUC General Secretary, said:
'It’s about time the season’s grafters got paid more for working over the Christmas holidays. And it’s about time Scrooge bosses had to give holiday pay to people who take time off work to enjoy the festivities.
'A bit of goodwill from the government and from Europe would make Christmas a lot merrier for millions of UK employees and their families.'
Notes to Editors:
Christmas working - an analysis of the Labour Force Survey 2002
Working on Christmas Day
|
Number working |
Not paid to work |
|
771,000 |
35,000 |
Working on Christmas Day - breakdown by region
|
Number working |
Not paid to work* | |
|
North East |
36,000 |
2,000 |
|
North West |
92,000 |
4,000 |
|
Yorkshire & Humb |
68,000 |
3,000 |
|
East Midlands |
46,000 |
2,000 |
|
West Midlands |
65,000 |
3,000 |
|
East of England |
55,000 |
2,000 |
|
London |
65,000 |
3,000 |
|
South East |
118,000 |
5,000 |
|
South West |
80,000 |
4,000 |
|
Wales |
43,000 |
2,000 |
|
Scotland |
91,000 |
4,000 |
|
Northern Ireland |
10,000 |
1,000 |
.
Not working on Christmas Day
Paid for taking Christmas Day off?
|
Number on holiday |
Not paid for holiday |
|
24,479,000 |
3,370,000 |
Paid for taking Christmas Day off? - breakdown by region
|
Number on holiday |
Not paid for holiday | |
|
North East |
969,000 |
133,000 |
|
North West |
2,768,000 |
381,000 |
|
Yorkshire and Humberside |
2,063,000 |
364,000 |
|
East Midlands |
1,798,000 |
247,000 |
|
West Midlands |
2,166,000 |
298,000 |
|
East of England |
2,346,000 |
323,000 |
|
London |
3,014,000 |
415,000 |
|
South East |
3,487,000 |
480,000 |
|
South West |
2,068,000 |
285,000 |
|
Wales |
1,093,000 |
150,000 |
|
Scotland |
2,077,000 |
285,000 |
|
Northern Ireland |
629,000 |
86,000 |
Who are these problems likely to affect?
Working on Christmas Day - by industry
|
Working Christmas Day | |
|
Agriculture, hunting and forestry |
23,000 |
|
Fishing |
1,000 |
|
Mining, quarrying |
5,000 |
|
Manufacturing |
34,000 |
|
Electricity, gas and water supply |
11,000 |
|
Construction |
10,000 |
|
Wholesale, retail and motor trade |
30,000 |
|
Hotels and restaurants |
104,000 |
|
Transport, storage and communication |
35,000 |
|
Financial intermediation |
5,000 |
|
Real estate, renting and business activ. |
52,000 |
|
Public administration and defence |
87,000 |
|
Education |
8,000 |
|
Health and social work |
324,000 |
|
Other community, social and personal |
40,000 |
|
Other |
2,000 |
|
Total |
771,000 |
Working on Christmas Day - by occupation
|
Working Christmas Day | |
|
Managers and senior officials |
90,000 |
|
Professionals |
41,000 |
|
Associate professional and technical |
177,000 |
|
Administrative and secretarial |
20,000 |
|
Skilled trades |
62,000 |
|
Personal services |
178,000 |
|
Sales and customer service |
21,000 |
|
Process, plant and machine operatives |
38,000 |
|
Elementary occupations |
144,000 |
|
Total |
771,000 |
*In the LFS, numbers under 10,000 are not statistically rigorous.
Information on working time rights and the TUC ‘It’s About Time’ campaign is available at www.workSMART.org.uk the TUC’s working life website.
Contacts:
Media enquiries: Ben Hurley 020 7467 1248 or 07626 317903 (pager) or email bhurley@tuc.org.uk
Press release (800 words) issued 19 Dec 2003
