In the judgment an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has decided that holiday pay should reflect non-guaranteed overtime.
Under the Working Time Regulations 1998 most workers are entitled to paid statutory annual leave. This is 5.6 weeks (28 days) if the employee works five days a week. A worker is entitled to be paid in respect of any period of annual leave for which they are entitled, at a rate of one week’s pay for each week’s leave.
The EAT considered three cases in which employees were required to work overtime if requested by their employees. The EAT referred to this type of overtime as non-guaranteed overtime. The Tribunal decided in the context of non-guaranteed overtime:
- overtime payments must be taken into account in the calculation of holiday pay if there is a settled pattern of work
- if the amount of overtime varies but is regularly paid, overtime payments must also be taken into account on an average basis.
Vince Cable has announced the setting up of a taskforce to assess the possible impact of the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruling on holiday pay.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said:
‘Government will review the judgment in detail as a matter of urgency. To properly understand the financial exposure employers face, we have set up a taskforce of representatives from government and business to discuss how we can limit the impact on business. The group will convene shortly to discuss the judgment.
Employers and employees can also contact the Acas helpline for free and confidential advice.
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