School holiday pay ruling and the impact on your school
The recent Supreme Court decision in Harpur Trust v Brazel confirmed that all term time only and part-year workers and employees who are retained on a year-round basis, are entitled to 5.6 weeks statutory holiday irrespective of how many days or weeks they actually work in the year.
Who will the holiday pay ruling impact?
This decision will impact schools and the way in which they employ staff who do not work full time. This means that you will need to look at the following staff and ask yourself:
- Zero hours or casual workers – are they retained on a year-round basis or employed just for short periods?
- Term time/term time plus contracts – are they being short-changed on their statutory holiday?
- Year-round staff – whether they work all year round or not, how will the new ruling affect their entitlement, and do they have a claim to backdated holiday pay?
What should you do next?
For any staff impacted by the new ruling; you will need to calculate what holiday pay they are now entitled to and whether payments need to be backdated.
What are the wider implications?
Finally, you will need to understand or agree with your SLT and governors:
- Holiday pay going forward
- The potential financial exposure
- Your approach to back pay generally
- Whether you change your contractual arrangements
- Whether to change your resourcing plans
- How to communicate this with impacted staff
How can we help you?
Legislation changes like this can have far-reaching implications for schools, from resourcing to financial, to how changes are implemented. It can also affect the morale of your staff if changes are not implemented or communicated effectively. Read more from TES here.
If you have any concerns with the practical implication of these changes in your school, or if you need further advice and assistance, then please call Andrea Tishler on 01483 421234 or via email here.