News In Brief July 2015

Hold fire on calculating holiday pay
Recent commentary following a much publicised case on the issue of holiday pay concluded that holiday pay had to include commission payments and compulsory overtime.  But before you address this, be aware that all cases pending on this topic are still being stayed as a result of a potential appeal by the employer in the case to take the matter further.  The Employment Appeal Tribunal is not expected to hear the case until the end of this year.  Employers are still left not really knowing what to do and their advisers not really being able to help until this thread of litigation has been resolved.

Impact of Employment Tribunal fees
The introduction of Employment Tribunal fees on starting cases has, as predicted, led to a huge reduction in the number of claims being made.  The total number of claims at the Employment Tribunals fell by almost 70% in the first quarter compared to previous years.  In the run up to the election various parties said they might look at this with a view to reducing or doing away with the fees altogether.  Post election the Government “is currently considering the options for a review of Employment Tribunal fees” but has given no time scale on this.  UNISON’s appeal against the High Court’s dismissal of its judicial review challenge to the introduction of fees in the Employment Tribunals will be heard mid-June.

Updated facts and figures card
Our updated Employment facts and figures cards have gone to print and are now available.  We will be sending out copies to our regular clients.  If you would like extra copies of it please let us know at the contact details at the end of the newsletter.  Online copies will be available on our website for those that prefer.