Enforced 2 week break at extension?

[JRCT]

I'm aware that Financial sector largely apply an enforced 2 week break over Christmas/ New Year. I've also heard (though it's never applied to me) about some Financial clients forcing/ trying to force a specific 2 week break in the summer.

But, I've never heard of a contract being offered with a clause insisting on an enforced 2 week break directly at extension, should one be offered.

An ex-colleague of mine has just received one like this and ran it by me.

Anyone else ever heard of this? It seems bizarre and I wonder whether it's something that the agency have insisted upon due to misunderstanding of some legislation/ rules to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

[PerfectStorm]

Ultimately if there's no work to do then a client doesn't need you in. If you told your builder you didn't want them in a particular week then you wouldn't expect them to argue about it.

See it as a good thing. Mandatory unpaid time off = a chance to get away but also an IR35 helper. After all, an employee wouldn't get it.

[JRCT]

Ultimately if there's no work to do then a client doesn't need you in. If you told your builder you didn't want them in a particular week then you wouldn't expect them to argue about it.

See it as a good thing. Mandatory unpaid time off = a chance to get away but also an IR35 helper. After all, an employee wouldn't get it.

This is nothing to do with whether there's any work to do.

This is signing a new 6 month contract now that states, no matter what, you have to take the first 2 weeks of month 7 off if an extension is offered and accepted.

[Bunk]

Isn't it just the usual mandatory 2 weeks anti-fraud that you have to take off when you work for a financial institution? I've never heard of it being enforced at renewal, rather it simply has to be taken within a 12 month period.

[gigahoe]

I worked at an FS company as perm and everyone had to take two weeks of their holidays in one go. This was referred to as core leave and was a hangover from when they used to check that you weren't fiddling the books, as it used to have to be over a month end too.

It was also known that once the budgets were done for the next year (September usually) there'd often be a forced 10 days of leave for contractors in certain areas as the managers tried to balance the books before the year end billing (which was November).

[expat]

Yes, I have a contract exactly like this. It's not for fraud reasons, I think it covers them for people who don't opt out and would incur a holiday entitlement. - But frankly don't really care as other posters have pointed out - It gives you a contractual obligation to take two weeks holiday every 6 months, so nicely gets round the client issue of taking holiday mid-contract. Just factor that into your rate calculations.

Absolutely. I do a little bit more than that: if they inform me that I will be taking a break of 2 weeks, I reply informing them when I will be returning after the break (and it will be more than 2 weeks).

[JRCT]

Yes, I have a contract exactly like this. It's not for fraud reasons, I think it covers them for people who don't opt out and would incur a holiday entitlement. - But frankly don't really care as other posters have pointed out - It gives you a contractual obligation to take two weeks holiday every 6 months, so nicely gets round the client issue of taking holiday mid-contract. Just factor that into your rate calculations.

Does your client also enforce a Christmas/ NY two weeks? If that happens not to fall in line with your contract end date, you would be forced to take 6 weeks per year?

[tarbera]

Lloyds are now 24 days + bank holidays - RBS are nearly the same on renewals

On mandatory days off

[Syntyrion]

Yes it relates to fraud checking. Permies are also forced to do this. So can't see how it would help with IR35

[PerfectStorm]

Yes it relates to fraud checking. Permies are also forced to do this. So can't see how it would help with IR35

Permies will get paid for it?