No holiday pay

Q: One of our members is a part-time pizza delivery driver. He gets the minimum wage, plus some expenses because he has to use his own car. He does not work fixed hours. He does not receive any holiday pay, including for bank holidays. Is this lawful?

A: All workers are entitled to four weeks' paid annual leave under the Working Time Regulations 1998 unless they are in an "excluded sector". Drivers are excluded only if they are covered by the tachograph regulations, which pizza delivery drivers are not, so your member is covered by the regulations and entitled to the four weeks' paid leave.

However, the four weeks can include bank holidays - there is no specific legal entitlement for employees (other than bank employees) to be paid for bank holidays. The new Work and Families Bill aims to remedy this (see page 25), but it has not become law yet.

Where there are no set hours, the amount of a week's pay is averaged over a 12-week period. So, for example, someone who works 20 hours a week on average over 12 weeks is entitled to four weeks' holiday paid on the basis of 20 hours per week.