European law already guaranteed workers 20-days paid holiday a year but employers had previously been allowed to include public holidays in this figure. From today full-time workers in Britain are guaranteed 28 days paid holiday which can include the eight public holidays in the UK.
Richard said: "Since Labour introduced the minimum wage thousands of people have been raised out of poverty. It was also Labour that introduced the EU's social chapter to the UK which has helped improve everyone's rights at work. The increase in guaranteed holiday allowance is to stop workers being forced to include public holidays in the calculation of their annual leave. All full-time workers will now be guaranteed the equivalent of four working weeks off and another eight days, to take into account public holidays.
"By agreeing rights for workers at European level we are setting out minimum standards all across Europe and have made working fairer and safer across 27 different countries."
- Full-time workers are now entitled to 28 days holiday a year, which is pro-rata for part-time employees.
- Six million people will benefit from the increased holiday entitlement
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