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Three million don't get Xmas holiday pay

Three million work for Scrooge like employers with no Xmas holiday pay

Nearly a million people will be working this Christmas Day and one and a half million will work on New Year's Day, according to reseach by the TUC. The TUC analysis of the latest Labour Force Survey figures also shows that more than three million employees will not receive holiday pay if they take off Christmas Day or New Year's Day.

UK workers have no statutory right to take the Christmas and New Year bank holidays, or any others, as time off or to receive holiday pay if they do. Employees also have no right to be paid a special rate for working bank holidays and the UK is the only EU country that allows employers to count bank holidays as part of the four weeks minimum paid annual leave guaranteed by the UK Working Time Directive.

The TUC is calling for the government to make a New Year's resolution to introduce:

Three new bank holidays to bring the UK up to the EU average.

A statutory right to be paid to take bank holidays off.

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.

TUC General Secretary Elect, Brendan Barber, said: 'The best employers give their staff two weeks paid leave at Christmas. Some people have to work over the holiday and they should be fairly rewarded. Protecting employees from bad bosses is an essential job all year round but the government needs to strengthen the law to make the UK a better place to work.'

The research was an analysis of the latest available Office of National Statistics Labour Force Survey.