The
coalition government has introduced legislation to reduce potential costs to
employers following the recent court decision on holiday pay.
Last
November, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruled that holiday pay should
reflect non- guaranteed overtime.
Following
that ruling, the coalition government set up a taskforce of representatives
from government and business — with no union representation — to assess the
financial exposure employers face and how to limit the impact on businesses.
The
government hasn’t even allowed the taskforce to finish its work, as it has laid
the Deduction from Wages (Limitation) Regulations 2014 before parliament,
which amend the 1996 Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Working Time
Regulations 1998. The regulations came into force on 8 January.
The
changes will apply to claims made on or after 1 July 2015 so workers can still
make claims under the existing arrangements for the next six months.
From
1 July, the employment tribunal will only consider backdated claims for holiday
pay accrued during non-guaranteed overtime in the two years up to the time the
worker brought their complaint to a tribunal.
The
regulations limit all unlawful deductions claims to two years before the date
the ET1 is lodged (with the exception of certain categories of unlawful
deductions claims such as claims for Statutory Maternity Pay, Statutory Sick
Pay and guarantee payments, which remain unaffected); and explicitly state that
the right to paid holiday is not incorporated as a term in employment
contracts.
Ian
Fleming, Branch Secretary of UNISON Northumberland County Branch said “the
government have repeatedly attacked workers rights and by them making this intervention
it will hit workers on the lowest wages the hardest, because it’s those workers
who are largely affected by this change in legislation. It is completely wrong
that in cases where workers have been illegally paid, they won’t be entitled to
claim back all the money they are owed.”
Labour Research Department Volume 77, Issue 1, 8 January 2015
www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/3322/pdfs/uksi_20143322_en.pdf
www.gov.uk/government/news/government-tackles-businesses-concerns-over-holiday-
pay-ruling
www.unison.org.uk/content/ConNewsArticle/5635
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