What are the holiday entitlements for secretaries, caretakers and cleaners?
The annual leave entitlement is 4 weeks per annum for someone working full time.
The most common method for calculating holiday pay is 8% of the hours worked in a
leave year (but subject to a maximum of 4 working weeks). This calculations for holiday pay should include time spent on:
- Annual leave,
- Public holidays (if they qualify),
- Certified sick leave,
- Maternity Leave
- Adoptive leave,
- Force Majure Leave
- The first 13 weeks of carers leave.
For secretaries who have opted to join the Department of Education payroll from 01/09/23 please see further information here.
What about Public Holidays?
There are 10 public holidays as follows:
1. Christmas Day
2. St. Stephen’s Day
3. The 1st of January
4. The first Monday in February, or 1 February if the date falls on a Friday
5. St. Patrick’s Day
6. Easter Monday
7. The first Monday in May
8. The first Monday in June
9. The first Monday in August
10. The last Monday in October
Note: Good Friday is not a public holiday. While some schools and businesses close
on that day, there is no automatic entitlement to time off work on that day.
Public holiday pay is based on a part-time employee meeting the minimum
requirement of working at least 40 hours over the previous 5 weeks. It also is
dependent on the following scenarios:
1. Public holiday falls on the day the employee normally works:
Employee is entitled to a paid day off (normal pay for the day) on that day.
2. Public holiday falls on the day the employee does not normally work:
Employee is entitled to 1/5 of the normal weekly rate of pay.
3. Public holiday falls on a weekend e.g. Christmas Day / St. Stephen’s Day / New Year’s Day / St. Patrick’s Day / St. Patrick’s Day / St. Brigids Day:
Treat the next working day(s) as the public holiday and apply the same criteria as per above.
4. Public holidays during lay off:
During lay off employees are still employed by the board. They are entitled to pay for any public holidays that occur during the first 13 weeks of lay off. However, part time employees must have worked at least 40 hours in the five weeks before the public holiday to receive this payment.
If you need any further information please email primary@fssu.ie or phone (01) 9104020.