In early November 2014 there was a great deal of media publicity surrounding the cases of Bear Scotland vs Fulton, Amec v Law and Hertel v Wood. In these cases the Employment Appeal Tribunal found that normal levels of overtime should be included when calculating an employee’s holiday pay. The judgment reflected earlier cases in the EU courts, and while there will probably be appeals, the law will almost certainly be changed to reflect the outcome of the case.
At the time the Government immediately set up a taskforce of employer organisations to investigate the implications for UK industry. One of the concerns raised by employers was that there would be a flood of backdated holiday claims, potentially going back for years.
One of the first outcomes of the taskforce is the introduction by Government of the “Deduction from Wages (Limitation) Regulations 2014” which impose a cap of two years on claims for unauthorised deductions from wages (back pay) resulting from the November judgments. In a press release on 18 December 2014, BIS announced that it was “taking action to protect UK business from the potentially damaging impact of large backdated claims”.
The new 2 year cap will only apply to claims that are issued from 1 July 2015 onwards. This gives employees who think that they may have a large claim going back more than 2 years just 6 more months to take advice and issue an ET1 claim form if they have a case.
Whether you are an employee who thinks that you might be entitled to back payments for holiday pay, or an employer who is facing back pay claims and would like advice, we at Backhouse Solicitors are here to help. Contact us today to book a free 30 minute consultation with one of our expert employment law solicitors and see how we can help you.
Tel: 01245 893400
Email: info@backhouse-solicitors.co.uk
Web: www.backhouse-solicitors.co.uk
