Annual leave and holiday pay
In Bear Scotland Ltd and others v Fulton and others; Hertel (UK) Ltd v Woods and others; Amec Group Ltd v Law and others [2015] IRLR 15 EAT, the EAT held that payment in respect of overtime that the worker is obliged to work when it is available, but that is not guaranteed by the employer, constitutes part of the worker's normal remuneration and as such should be included in the computation of the worker's holiday pay.
The European Court of Justice has held that a payment must be made for accrued but untaken annual leave on the death of a worker.
The European Court of Justice has held that a worker's commission payments must be included in the calculation of his or her holiday pay.
In Sood Enterprises Ltd v Healy [2013] IRLR 865 EAT, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that workers on long-term sick leave who have not taken their annual holiday entitlement may not carry over the additional 1.6 weeks' leave to which UK workers are entitled without an agreement to do so.
This employment tribunal held that employers should not circumvent the requirement to pay a departing worker for holiday that he or she has accrued but not taken by providing in the contract of employment that the worker will be entitled only to a nominal sum.
The European Court of Justice has confirmed that the holiday pay of a worker on a zero hours contract placed on short-time working can be calculated on a pro rata basis.
The Supreme Court has remitted to the employment tribunal the case brought by British Airways pilots in relation to the inclusion of flying allowances in the calculation of their holiday pay, following the results of the reference to the European Court of Justice on whether or not "normal remuneration" during a period of annual leave should include allowances on top of basic pay.
In this case, a security company told workers that their 28-day entitlement to annual leave would be reduced because they were paid double for working bank or public holidays. The Northern Ireland industrial tribunal found this to be a breach of the workers' statutory right to a minimum of 28 days' annual leave.
The Court of Appeal has held that an NHS worker who was absent for the whole leave year and who did not submit any requests for annual leave during her absence was entitled to holiday pay on the termination of her employment.
The European Court of Justice has confirmed that a worker who is sick during a period of annual leave cannot be precluded from taking the holiday at a time other than that originally scheduled, irrespective of when the incapacity for work first arose.
Employment law cases: HR and legal information and guidance relating to annual leave and holiday pay.