The Supreme Court has ruled in favour of a zero hours contract worker who works
on a term-time only contract in a school. The case concerned how to calculate their
holiday pay. It also has implications for workers who work varying hours during only
certain weeks of the year but have a continuing contract.
The employer adopted a policy of adding 12.07 per cent to the worker’s pay to
cover their holiday pay entitlement. The Supreme Court ruled that it was wrong to
do so. The holiday pay should instead have been based on the worker’s pay for the
relevant period, with any weeks of nil pay ignored. The relevant period in relation to
this claim was 12 weeks. This has since been changed to 52 weeks.
LGPS Scheme employers may be reviewing their policy on calculating holiday pay
for members in this category in light of this judgment. They may wish to seek
specialist legal advice to establish whether to change their current practices and
whether any backdated payments are due.
You can read more about the Harpur Trust v Brazel case, including a useful
summary of the judgment on the Supreme Court’s website.