Holiday pay should include commission

British Gas v Lock EAT/0189/15

Holiday pay should include commission.

Background

Mr Lock made a claim to the employment tribunal that he was owed money that he lost out on by going on holiday as his holiday pay did not relect his results-based commission.

This was then referred to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for clarification as to whether it was a breach of the Working Time Regulations. They held that a workers commission payments must be included in their holiday pay.

On returning to the UK the tribunal reviewed the ECJ’s guidance and the EAT judgment of other similar cases. They upheld ECJ’s guidance.

British Gas then appealed the ruling to the EAT. The EAT rejected British Gas’ proposed arguments.

However this may not be the end of the matter as British Gas have requested to take the case to the Court of Appeal for a definite ruling.

Implication for employers

Employers that offer a commission based role to employees will now have to be mindful of when the employee takes annual leave that they are at no financial detriment from it.

Source – XpertHR and CIPD