In the case of Harpur Trust v Brazel (see our previous update here for case details), the Supreme Court has confirmed that part-year workers under permanent contracts are entitled to 5.6 weeks leave per year and their leave entitlement should not be pro-rated to that of a full-time worker (as argued by Harpur Trust). The pay for that leave should be calculated using s.224 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, meaning that it should be based on the average weekly remuneration in the period of 52 weeks, ending with the start of the leave period (minus any weeks that have not been worked). For such workers, holiday pay should not be calculated based on 12.07% of their annualised hours. Even though that may result in higher rates of holiday pay for certain part-year workers, the Supreme Court is satisfied that is the correct implementation of the Working Time Regulations 1998.
Employers who apply the 12.07% holiday pay calculation, especially employers who engage workers with atypical working patterns (like offshore workers), may need to review their holiday pay arrangements (if they haven’t done so already). Please get in touch if we can assist.
Written by
Related News, Insights & Events

The evolving nature of risk: Lessons in corporate resilience
27/08/2025
The concept of risk and reward is as old as time itself.

Summary of Employment Rights Bill implementation
19/08/2025
Focussing on the four key areas of the Employment Rights Bill

A guide to the ECCTA ID verification process
31/07/2025
A step-by-step guide to verify your identity online to comply with the identity verification (IDV) regime introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA).