CIPP comment The landmark ruling by the employment appeal tribunal in the Dudley Metropolitan borough council case in July 2017 was the first case to confirm that payments for entirely voluntary duties, such as voluntary overtime, standby, call-out work and travel-time linked to that work, should be included in the calculation of workers’ holiday pay. At the time Unite called on employers to urgently get their ‘house in order’ over holiday pay as this ruling sets a legal binding precedent which employment tribunals across the UK are obliged to follow. We will no doubt be seeing many more of these types of cases about regular voluntary overtime. The CIPP run a practical half day course which includes an overview of the legal framework that governs holiday pay and entitlement, as well as worked exercises to explore the calculations thoroughly. This course will always include the most up to date information to account for ongoing case law. Visit the training area of our website for full details.
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Unlawful Deductions: Construing Complex Contracts 25 January 2018
A company introduced a purportedly 'cost-neutral' pay rise at a time of austerity, consolidating bonuses into salary. This had a side-effect of creating a dispute over the proper calculation of shift allowances, and claims for deductions from wages
With thanks to Daniel Barnett’s employment law bulletin for providing the following summary of this case:
Can a tribunal construe contractual complex provisions when hearing a claim for unlawful deduction from wages?
Yes, held the Employment Appal Tribunal (EAT) in Nexus v Anderson , dismissing an appeal in an area of conflicting authorities.
Nexus, which runs the Tyne and Wear Metro, introduced a purportedly 'cost-neutral' pay rise at a time of austerity, consolidating bonuses into salary. This had a side-effect of creating a dispute over the proper calculation of shift allowances, and claims for deductions from wages. Nexus argued that the tribunal had no jurisdiction to hear the claims, relying on certain authorities indicating that an tribunal cannot construe contractual provisions when considering 'wages' claims. The EAT noted that it did "not see how one can avoid construction of contractual terms in deciding whether a deduction is unauthorised" and followed a line of Court of Appeal authorities where wages claims were determined by contractual construction. The EAT also noted that whilst 'wages' claims had been regarded as summary in nature in previous case law, Employment Judges now deal with complicated matters and there was no reason for contractual construction not to be considered by them.
The judgment contains an extensive review of the law in this area, has guidance on contractual construction, and compares the different origins and aims of Part II ERA 'wages' claims and Part I ERA references.
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Injury to feelings for Working Time detriment claim 5 February 2018
In a recent case the Employment Appeal Tribunal found that injury to feelings can be awarded in a claim of detriment for asserting working time rights.
In the case South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue v Mansell the Claimants were firefighters. A new shift system was introduced at their station, without variation of the collective agreement with their union, and which provided inadequate rest breaks. When they all refused to work the new system, they were transferred to another station. The
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