Normal working hours

Case 5: The facts

Mrs Unwin worked as a cleaner. She initially worked 20 hours per week, but these were increased to 35 per week under a verbal agreement. However, her written terms and conditions continued to state that she worked 20 hours per week.

Unwin was later made redundant, and her compensation for redundancy and outstanding holiday were calculated on the basis of a normal working week of 20 hours.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal held that, although in everyday usage "normal working hours" would be seen as the regular hours that an employee works, its statutory meaning is the hours that the employee is contractually obliged to work and the employer is contractually obliged to offer.

Because her terms and conditions stated that Unwin's contractual hours were 20 per week and any overtime was voluntary, this was the basis for the calculation of money owed to her.

Refrigeration Norwest v Unwin UKEAT/0394/04