261: Supreme Court to decide on holiday pay for part-year workers

The Supreme Court has granted the Harpur Trust leave to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision on the calculation of holiday pay for part-year workers such as school music teachers who do not work during the school holidays.

Holiday pay for employees who do not have regular working patterns was previously calculated using the 12.07% multiplier methodology suggested by Acas guidance. However, in Harpur Trust v Brazel, the Court of Appeal ruled that employees who work under a permanent contract for only part of the year should receive the same 5.6 weeks’ holiday entitlement as employees who work for the whole year. This decision meant that part-year and other employees with irregular hours would receive a proportionately higher rate of holiday pay. If the appeal is successful, the principle of pro-rating the 5.6 weeks’ holiday using the multiplier of 12.07% is likely to be reinstated.