A decision by European Court of Justice (ECJ) could mean that employees who do not take their full annual leave could have it carried over, providing circumstances beyond their control caused them to miss out on the opportunity of leave.
The case regards an employee named as ‘King’ in court, who was working in sales on a commission-only basis with unpaid annual leave. Over the course of 13 years working at a firm he did not take his full allocation of leave to avoid missing out on pay.
When he left the company he brought a tribunal claim against them over owing him wages for leave he had not taken, the tribunal found that his circumstances were similar to a person not being able to take holidays because of an extended sick leave or similar situation.
The ruling will come out in June and could change the way many companies operate their allocation of leave or risk similar claims from employees and former employees. Law protects the rights of employees and everyone has a right to annual paid leave in the UK, with a minimum requirement their employer must meet. Companies can be punished harshly for attempting to get around giving the correct allocation, with commission based work being a grey area for a long time in regards to employment law.
To avoid these pitfalls happening to your business and damaging its reputation, please get in touch with High Performance Consultancy. We provide advice & guidance as a UK leading specialist in Employment law, HR and Health and Safety Services. Feel free to use the form below or call us on 0843 509 4543.