The Supreme Court held the real situation trumped what was written in the contract. It was not necessary for the valeters to prove a 'sham', in the sense that the parties intended to mislead HMRC. The fact that the employer had written a 'substitution clause' into the contracts did not reflect the reality, as everyone expected the valeters to carry out their duties personally. The question is: what is the true agreement between the parties? That might be what is written down, but is not necessarily so. 3 August 2011 This case is concerned with whether an entitlement to paid annual leave for an employee, absent throughout the whole leave year because of sickness, depends on the worker submitting a request for leave before the end of that leave year. Daniel Barnett’s Employment Law Bulletin reports: The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has handed down its decision in NHS Leeds v Larner , which is authority for the proposition that the entitlement to paid annual leave of a worker absent for the whole of a pay year through sickness does not depend on the worker submitting a request for such leave before the end of the relevant pay year. The appellant, Mrs Larner, was signed off sick for the whole of the pay year 2009/2010. She was subsequently dismissed on grounds of incapability due to ill-health but her employer refused to make any payment in respect of her untaken annual leave on grounds that no formal request for leave had been made. The main issue on appeal was whether the failure to make such a request under Regulation 15(1) of the Working Time Regulations 1998 (as amended) precluded the normal entitlement to payment in lieu of annual leave following dismissal. The EAT held that the situation was analogous to the CJEU decision in Pereda v Madrid Movilidad SA , where it was held that an employee who had been injured during a period of booked annual leave, and therefore off sick, remained entitled to a replacement period of leave on his return. Similarly, as Mrs Larner had been unable to take her annual leave by reason of sickness, she retained her "right to enjoy a period of relaxation and leisure", or payment in lieu on dismissal, in the following year. Interestingly, the EAT stated, obiter, that the position might be different in the case of a fit employee who fails to make any request for leave during the whole of a pay year. The reason being that such an employee would have had an opportunity to exercise his/her right. Expect more cases too follow! 10 August 2011 In this case a nurse won a landmark equal pay claim, in a case that was the first of its kind in the NHS. People Management reports: A London nurse has won a “landmark” equal pay claim against City and Hackney Teaching Primary Care Trust, in a case that was the first of its kind in the NHS. LANDMARK EQUAL PAY RULING FOR LONDON NURSE PAID HOLIDAY FOR SICK WORKERS
CIPP Policy News Journal
09/10/2012, Page 44 of 234
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