‘Flowers V East of England Ambulance Trust’
This case centres around a group of claimants who worked for East of England Ambulance Trust. Occasionally, they were required to work extra time at the end of their shift in order to complete a job such as caring for a patient or dealing with a call made to emergency services. These shift overruns are referred to as ‘non-guaranteed overtime’.
The claimants could also work voluntary overtime but were not obliged to do so.
The claimants argued that both non-guaranteed overtime and voluntary overtime should be taken into account when calculating their holiday pay.
The Employment Judge found that voluntary overtime and non-guaranteed overtime should be considered as part of ‘normal remuneration’ for the purposes of calculating holiday pay if it was paid over a “sufficient period of time”.
Our opinion:
This is a timely reminder of the basic principle that workers ought to receive the same pay whilst on annual leave as they would normally receive had they been at work.
Whilst the basic principle seems simple, there has been much case law around how to calculate holiday pay. To further complicate matters there have been inconsistencies found between UK law and EU law. We therefore strongly recommend that you seek legal advice when considering what to include in your calculations of holiday pay.
