The Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) embarked on a three day hearing which represents a significant stage for the cases which will determine the fate of overtime in relation to holiday pay and whether, both for the future and historically, employers should pay, and should have been paying – workers holiday pay based on their earnings including overtime.
Marc Meryon, partner at Eversheds comments: “Under current UK law certain categories of worker have their holiday pay calculated without taking account of any overtime they might work. For others, overtime is only taken into account if it is compulsory and guaranteed. For others, it is included. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has decided that the Directive which gives workers the right to 20 days’ paid holiday requires that workers should receive any supplements, such as for performing a role; allowances, which are intrinsic to their role or which reflect their status; and average commission earnings when they take their holiday. In applying these CJEU decisions, several employment tribunals have decided workers.