Has anybody taken an agency to an employment tribunal for not paying holiday pay?
I have just spoken to ACAS who have told me that the agency I work for are breaking the law for including holiday pay in the rate of pay, and not stating what percentage of the pay is the actual holiday pay.
I am fed up with agencies taking the urine. I have told my agency about this and they said they will ring me back, this was about an hour ago.
I may lose work over this but am prepared to take it as far as I can.
Using a link from the Direct.Gov website I have work out that I am owed over 200 hours holiday pay.
check the dates they start the holiday pay from. i left SMS because they stole 19 days from me. i kept asking them how many days i had until 1st april came and went and they said i had lost them. NAS on the other hand dont steal them. they keep a record of how many days they owe you and they stick to the law ie 24 days a year and they pay at normal rate. in other words even if i did the occasional non HGV shift i still get paid 8 hours class 1 day rate for a days holiday
I got the same problem wioth the agency I used to work at - and I am oweed about 8 days pay from them - I need to fire out a letter to them by recorded post and o their REC membership people.
Strictly speaking your agency (employer) is required to set aside 10.17% of your normal salary as holiday pay.
This is to cover 24 days holiday a year (increasing to 12.07% or 28 days from April 2009)
Many agencies use the pratice commonly called “Rolled up holiday pay”. This is where additional payments are made each week to cover your holiday entitlement, it is then up to you to put this money aside for when you take holidays.
However before you storm off beware that the case law has shown that rolled up holiday pay has been accepted where the system is fully transparent and comprehensible.
To do this the burden is on the employer to show that:
rolled-up holiday pay is clearly incorporated into the individual contract of employment, and therefore has been expressly agreed
the allocation of the percentage or amount of holiday pay is clearly identified in the contract and preferably also on the payslip
holiday pay amounts to a true addition to the contractual rate of pay
records of holiday taken have been kept
practical steps have been taken to require workers to take their holidays before the end of the relevant holiday year.
If you recieved rolled up holiday pay and it didn’t meet these requirements you may well have a case.
Also anyone who’s employer refused to pay you your holiday entitlement and who didn’t encourage you to take your holiday days should have a case.
After speaking to ACAS it looks like I have a good case, my agency have threatened to suspend me if I write to them with a grievance over this and were less than polite. I think its best if I now say no more in case it harms any further action I may or not take.
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