Currys and 6 hour contracts holiday pay

[littlemissmermaid]

Currys have this thing where they employ people on 6 hour contracts but then all other working hours are classified as overtime. If I work 35 hours a week for last 6 months and my contract says I am only entitled to holiday pay for my contracted hours. Is this legal or does it breach the 'Part-Time Working Regulations 2000' whereby Part Time workers are entitled to the same contractual rights as full time people? And what can be done about it.

 

If Curry's have been doing this for years across the country, they are making a fat packet off loads of staff all over the UK and are not fulfilling their obligation as an employer to pay holiday pay relative to the hours worked and it needs to be stopped. The law needs to be changed to prevent these kind of contracts. Local MP doesn't seem to be interested, Citizens advice couldn't advise on it and ACAS said it was obviously a legal loophole and said 'hope you sort it soon'. WTF?

 

Any advice anyone?

[Atlas01]

 

http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/advice/practice-notes/holiday-entitlement/#cc2.1

 

 

Rates of statutory holiday pay

 

A worker is entitled to be paid during the statutory annual leave at a rate of a week's pay for each week of leave (Reg 16).

This is calculated in accordance with the method of calculating a week's pay in sections 221-224 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA). However, there is no cap on the amount of a week's pay for the purposes of the WTR 1998.

 

• Workers with normal working hours, whose pay does not vary with the amount of work done, are entitled to their basic salary without any additional bonuses or commission payments.
  
• Workers who have normal working hours but whose pay varies according to the amount of work done or time of work, are entitled to holiday pay based on their average pay during those normal working hours over the previous 12 working weeks, including any commission etc which varies in amount.
  
• Workers with no normal working hours have their week's pay calculated as an average of all the sums earned during the previous 12 working weeks, including any overtime payments and commission.
  

You should note that 'normal working hours' include guaranteed overtime payments.

[Sidewinder]

It is all about arguing what constitutes 'normal' working hours. You will need evidence to indicate that 35 hours a week is what is 'expected' of you, so what would be the situation were you to refuse to work the hours? Are you offered the hours or 'told' to work them? How are the additional hours broken down on your payslip?

 

I have no doubt that you SHOULD be getting holiday based on your hours worked, and you could almost certainly argue custom and practice sufficiently to get the employer to reluctantly allow you the proper holiday entitlement. I also believe though that for putting them through hoops over this you may well find that they immediately realise that they only need you to work your contracted 6 hours a week!

 

You are absolutely right that it is a racket and it is rife in retail at present. Flexi contracts are the norm, where you are guaranteed core hours and then work extra as required. It is lawful, but open to a challenge - the problem being the term 'normal working hours'.

 

Probably best to try and resolve the problem informally at first - raise a grievance and push them on the WTD rather than the Part Time Workers Regs - that only provides for PT staff getting the same terms PRO RATA as are given to FT staff.