In a move described by the TUC as a ‘blatant attempt to water down’ last month’s decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal in Bear Scotland v Fulton that holiday pay should reflect non-guaranteed overtime that is routinely worked, the Government has laid before Parliament regulations amending the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Working Time Regulations 1998 so as to limit Employment Tribunal (ET) claims on this issue to two years before the date on which the ET1 claim for unlawful deduction of wages is lodged and clarifying that the right to payment in respect of annual leave is not intended to operate in such a way as to provide that right under a worker’s contract. It is a separate statutory right.
There will be a transitional period before the two-year time limit is introduced. It will only apply to complaints presented to the ET on or after 1 July 2015.