Features: Law queries

Holidays and overtime pay

We work a lot of overtime every week, for which we get paid at a higher rate. However, when we go on holiday our overtime hours are excluded and our pay is calculated without the overtime. This means that we actually get penalised in earnings whenever we take holidays. Can we challenge this?

The Court of Appeal has recently ruled that, for the purpose of the Working Time Regulations 1998 there is no obligation to pay at anything other than the contractual rate of pay - the basic pay excluding overtime.

* More information: Bamsey v Albon Engineering & Manufacturing Case No: A1/2003/0817

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Labour Research (June 2004)

Holidays and overtime pay

We work a lot of overtime every week, for which we get paid at a higher rate. However, when we go on holiday our overtime hours are excluded and our pay is calculated without the overtime. This means that we actually get penalised in earnings whenever we take holidays. Can we challenge this?