Weekly Issue 431

Millions miss out on paid holiday

According to figures published last week by the TUC, millions of employees may be missing out on their minimum legal entitlement to paid holidays.
The TUC’s analysis of unpublished figures from the 2014 Labour Force Survey suggests that on average 6.4 per cent of employees across the UK are not using their full holiday rights, amounting to almost 1.7 million people.

Worker groups

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) state that immediately before a service provision change (SPC) takes place, there has to be an organised grouping of employees dedicated to carrying out the activities concerned. In Jakowlew v Saga Care and Westminster Homecare Ltd, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that a third party cannot decide what grouping of workers a particular worker is assigned to.

Voluntary overtime

According to recent case law, non-guaranteed overtime should be included in the calculation of statutory paid holiday leave if it forms part of the worker’s normal remuneration. In Patterson v Castlereagh Borough Council, the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal held that there was no reason, in principle, why voluntary overtime should not also be included in statutory holiday pay.