16 April
2003
New EAT Decisions
Bamsey v Albion Engineering (HHJ
Ansell, 27/3/03)
Authority for the proposition that, when calculating holiday pay under
the Working Time Regulations 1998, an employer should exclude the value
of overtime which is not contractually guaranteed, even if the employee
habitually works the overtime. This decision is an example of statutory
construction at its most polished level, and is worth reading just to
appreciate the difficulty of some of the issues faced when construing
conflicting UK and EC law. Leave has been given to appeal to the Court
of Appeal.
LINK:
Aylward v Glamorgan Holiday Hotel (HHJ Ansell, 5/2/03)
This case deals with the definition of redundancy. The Glamorgan Holiday
Hotel, due to a fall-off in business, sought to impose a unilateral variation
to all workers' contracts, reducing the number of working weeks in the
year from 52 to 42. Most employees accepted the new terms; seven did not
and were dismissed. They claimed redundancy payments.
The EAT upheld the tribunal's decision that they were not redundant within
the meaning of s139 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. There was no diminution
in the need for employees to carry out work of a particular kind; the
same number of employees were still needed, even if they were needed for
fewer weeks in the year. Accordingly they were not redundant and could
not claim a redundancy payment.
LINK:
Daniel Barnett
16th April 2003
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