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O2: Changing the Holiday Year in 2008

24 January 2007

O2 have recently announced their intention to change the holiday year in O2 effective from 1 January 2008. The change will move the Annual Leave year to a calendar year, aligning it to the Telefonica/O2 financial year that runs from the 1 January to 31 December.

In order to accommodate this change, O2 have shortened the 2007/8 leave year to a nine month period, running from 1 April to 31 December 2007.

The CWU have discussed the changes to the holiday year at length with O2 and have agreed the change will be calculated as follows;

• For those members whose leave is calculated in days, they will receive 9/12ths of the annual entitlement rounded up to the next half day.
• For part timers and anyone else whose leave is calculated in hours, their entitlement will be rounded up as above and then converted back to hours.
• There will be an ability for members to carry over a greater number of days than normal (up to 10) to ensure that those who were intending to take a longer than usual holiday between January and March 2008 are not disadvantaged. This carry over will last longer for Retail people who traditionally have more problems booking Annual Leave in December.
• There will be the ability for members who were intending to use a disproportionate amount of their leave before December 2007 to anticipate leave from the next year.
• Anyone who is eligible for an increase in their leave entitlement will receive it as normal at the beginning of the Annual Leave year.

It appears from initial feedback that some members are a sceptical of the change and believe they are losing out on some of their Annual Leave. Members can be assured that the CWU is satisfied that the change is fair, equitable and ensures their full Annual Leave entitlement.