Holiday Pay Claims Solicitors

Under the Working Time Regulations 1998, you are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ apaid annual leave each year. This can include bank holidays.  

Your contract of employment might stipulate greater holiday entitlement, but mustn’t afford less than the statutory minimum.  

A failure to provide the appropriate holiday entitlement and pay can give rise to claims under the Working Time Regulations 1998 and Employment Rights Act 1996.   

Underpayments of holiday pay can be classed as “unauthorised deductions from wages”. Such claims can be pursued in an employment tribunal. They must be lodged within 3 months (less one day) of the date of the underpayment, or last underpayment in a series.   

Deduction from wages claims can go back as far as two years from the date the claim is submitted. This can amount to a reasonable sum if you haven’t been paid holiday at all or you’ve been underpaid for that whole period.  

However, it is important to note that if there is a gap of more than three months in any series of deductions, you will lose the right to make a claim for any earlier deductions.  

We therefore advise that you act as quickly as possible if you believe holiday has been underpaid or if you haven’t had any holiday pay at all and believe you are entitled to it.  

Employers can also try to avoid liability for underpaid holiday by paying the correct holiday pay, without deduction, for your most recent holidays. This “breaks the chain” of underpayments and can create time limit problems.   

For straightforward, clear advice on how to proceed with your ‘deduction from wages’ claim, please contact a member of our employment team today.