Holiday Pay – Are You Receiving Your Entitlement?
It was recently reported to us that the bookmaker, Betfred, had failed to take account of overtime when calculating holiday pay for some of its staff, many of whom work overtime on a regular basis. The company blamed the error on a payroll system failure, but the outcome is that staff, many of whom earn little more than the minimum wage, have been significantly underpaid.
Affinity has already submitted claims to the Employment Tribunal for Betfred members who have contacted our Advice Team – could the same issue be affecting you?
What’s It All About?
The general principle underpinning holiday pay is that workers should receive the same pay while they are on annual leave as they normally receive while they are at work: there should be no deterrent from taking annual leave because income will fall, for example because they will not be paid the overtime they earn normally.
This principle is derived from European law and applies to the first 4 weeks of annual leave which are covered by the EU Working Time Directive.
Under UK law, all workers receive a further 1.6 weeks of annual leave and although the principle set out above does not strictly apply to the additional 1.6 weeks leave; employers have discretion as to whether the principle is extended. The principle was confirmed in 2014, when the Employment Appeals Tribunal ruled that under the EU Working Time Directive, employers should be taking regular overtime into consideration when calculating pay during holidays.
What Areas Does The Principle Cover?
Overtime – all overtime, other than that which is worked on a genuinely occasional and infrequent basis, should be included when calculating holiday pay entitlement for the first 4 weeks of annual leave, unless the employer decides to extend this to the full UK statutory leave entitlement of 5.6 weeks annual leave.
There is no definition of how often overtime must be worked for it to be considered when calculating holiday pay entitlement, but in general, pay that is “normally received” should be included in holiday pay.
Commission – a case heard at the European Court of Justice in 2014 (Lock v British Gas Trading Ltd) confirmed that results-based commission should be considered when calculating holiday pay for the first 4 weeks of annual leave.
Work-related Travel – this is usually travel which is made for work purposes, which does not constitute a commute to and from a worker’s usual place of work. A case at the Employment Appeal Tribunal (Bear Scotland v Fulton), confirmed that where payments are made for time spent travelling to and from work as part of normal pay, those payments may need to be considered in the calculation of holiday pay too.
Incentive bonuses, standby or on-call shift allowances, and any other remuneration which is taxed and paid on a regular basis constitutes ‘normal remuneration’ and should be factored in when calculating holiday pay entitlement for the first 4 weeks of annual leave.
Does This Affect You?
Whether you work for Betfred or not, if you think that you may not be receiving your full holiday pay entitlement and you would like us to review your position please email your name, membership number and a short summary of your working arrangements to ‘24hours@workaffinity.co.uk’. We will then contact you for any further information we need.
Under UK law (the Deductions from Wages (Limitation) Regulations 2014) claims for underpayment of holiday pay can go back only two years. It’s important therefore that you don’t delay contacting us if you think you have been underpaid.
Election of Chairman
Under the Union’s constitution an election for the post of Chairman has to be carried out every five years.
The existing Chairman, Neilson Smith has been duly nominated and is standing for election for a further term.
Other members may stand for election provided they:
1. Are Active Members of the Union (meaning that they are not retired and pay the appropriate working subscription rate) with a minimum of 5 years membership.
2. Have been proposed and seconded in their nominations for candidacy by at least 100 members of the Union entitled to vote in the election.
Nomination forms can be obtained by contacting the Independent Returning Officer:
Paul Tucker
Croucher Needham (Essex) LLP Accountants
Market House
10 Market Walk
Saffron Walden
Essex
CB10 1JZ
Tel: 01799 521301
The Independent Scrutineer, to whom any complaints regarding the conduct of this election should be addressed, is:
David Richardson
Croucher Needham (Essex) LLP Accountants
Market House
10 Market Walk
Saffron Walden
Essex
CB10 1JZ
Tel: 01799 521301
The period for nominations will close at 12:00 p.m. on Friday 25th October 2019.
Nominations forms received after that date will be invalid.