Consultation for Holiday Pay Entitlement - ends 9th March
The employment law Supreme Court ruling
There has been a lot of debate and discussions around the Supreme Court’s Judgment in the matter of Harpur Trust -v- Brazel and the effect that it has had on employers to calculate a part time worker’s calculation for annual leave.
Employment lawyers and HR representatives have been trying to get their heads around what the ruling Harpur Trust -v- Brazel has meant for calculating holiday pay and making changes where necessary within the business to reflect the decision of the Supreme Court.
Government Consultation - employment law & holiday pay
The Government has now commenced a consultation to review how holiday entitlement is calculated for part-year workers and workers with irrgular hours. The consultation is to remain open until the 9th March 2023 and is designed to provide some clarity on holiday entitlement which has become extremely confusing and complex area of employment law leaving many employers crying out for certainty as to how to calculate holiday entitlement for those in their workforce.
The aim of this consultation is to make it clearer and simpler to calculate holiday entitlement which is both fair to both the employers and the workers.
This proposed method will ensure that holiday entitlement is calculated not only consistently for workers with irregular hours, but such workers will not receive a disproportionate amount of holiday entitlement when considering the hours they have worked which was a criticism of the findings of Harpur Trust -v- Brazel.
So the new method proposed by the Government would see a reversion back to the 12.07 % calculation that was previously employed within many businesses in respect of part tier workers/workers with irregular hours.
This proposal is to allow workers a ‘fixed pot’ of holiday entitlement based on the 12.07% hours worked in the previous 52 weeks (weeks where no work has been undertaken will still be taken into account within this 52 week period).
This method would not work during the first year of employment and the Government has therefore proposed an alternative method used during the first year where holiday entitlement is calculated at the end of each month based on the 12.07% of the hours worked within that month.
Irregular Hours
The proposals also look at how to address a day’s leave is calculated for those that work irregular hours. The rational behind the consultation is to enable both employers and workers to provide feedback on this proposed method for calculating the holidays entitlement.
Full details of the Consultation - where you can have your say - can be found <here>
Vaishali Thakerar, Director & Employment Solicitor
Lawson-West Solicitors, Leicester
"This Consultation is important because there are so many types of employment contract for casual workers, part-time workers, part-year and seasonal workers that makes the calculation of holiday pay entitlement very difficult. The findings will help to shape future employment regulations and provide valuable clarity for employers."
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