Welcome to our latest Employment Law Coffee Break in which we look at the latest legal and practical developments impacting UK employers.
Court of Appeal allows claim for six years unpaid holiday and gives a 'strong provisional view' on multiple underpayments
The Court of Appeal (CA) has handed down a significant decision for employers on the interpretation of regulation 13 of the Working Time Regulations (WTR) which entitles workers to four weeks' paid leave. This regulation was introduced to implement minimum annual leave obligations under the European Working Time Directive (WTD). Separately, in the UK, workers are also entitled to an additional 1.6 weeks' paid leave under regulation 13A WTR.
The decision relates to a claim brought pre-Brexit. However, the terms of the UK's withdrawal agreement with the EU – coupled with the CA's reasoning which draws heavily on pre-Brexit case law from the European Court of Justice – means this decision will continue to have significance for businesses going forwards.
What was claimed?
The claimant had been engaged by the respondent on a self-employed basis; he had taken periods of leave during this engagement but on an unpaid basis. When the relationship came to an end, the Supreme Court held that he had in fact been engaged as a worker and the claimant therefore claimed unpaid holiday entitlement due to him under the WTR during his engagement. The Employment Tribunal (ET) and Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) rejected his claim on...
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