Martin Lewis shares how workers can secure unpaid holiday cash windfall

One teenager was able to secure £240 from two former employers

Workers have been advised by Martin Lewis’s money-saving service to check they are getting all the paid time off they are owed.

All employees are entitled to holiday pay whether they’re full-time, part-time, temporary or seasonal. Their employers must give them what they’re entitled to, meaning it is wise to keep track.

The first step is to find out your status as a worker, according to Mr Lewis’s Money Saving Expert website, as this will determine what you are entitled to. Not everyone who works has worker or employee status (some gig economy workers, for example), which means they are likely not entitled to holiday pay.

An easy way to check is whether the worker receives payslips from their employer or not. If they do, they are likely an employee. However, the best way to be sure is to check the contract or ask the employer.

Money Saving Expert shared the story of Lola, 17, whose mother said she was able to secure £240 in unpaid holiday pay after working as a kitchen porter at her local pub for two years.

Money Saving Expert shared the story of Lola, 17, who was able to secure £240 in unpaid holiday pay (PA)

The teenager hadn’t taken any paid holiday during her employment, as she didn’t know she was entitled to it. Getting in touch with her former employer, the pub backdated two years’ worth of holiday pay – £218.

Lola then even got in touch with a cafe where she had worked the previous summer, finding out she was also owed £23.87 by them.

Her mother said: “It's a lot of money, especially when you're only 17. She's going to use it to save up for driving lessons. I wanted to highlight this as I'm sure there are other young people working and not aware of their entitlements.”

Figuring out how much holiday pay a worker is entitled to can be tricky. Employees and workers are legally entitled to 5.6 working weeks of paid holiday a year, meaning the exact amount differs depending on how much they work.

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For a full-time worker, this works out to 28 days of paid holiday a year. Employers are allowed to include bank holidays in this, but not all do.

Working out a part-time worker’s entitlement is a matter of multiplying the number of days a week they work by 5.6.

If they leave their employment without taking all of this entitlement, their employer must pay for any untaken holiday. This will require the worker to communicate with their former employer.

Pat Hicks, advisor for the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), said: "Some people might find it quite a daunting idea to raise a concern with their employer, but it may be a genuine mistake they did not realise has been made. Talking to the employer informally might be enough to highlight the issue and get it resolved."