Rail firms in row over holiday pay

The Amicus general union is to launch a major investigation into breaches of the working time regulations among rail maintenance companies.

The union says rail staff across the UK could be losing up to £1,000 a year because rail maintenance companies are failing to calculate holiday pay in compliance with the Working Time Regulations 1998. The affected staff include cleaners, fitters, erectors and engineers.

The regulations entitle workers to a minimum four weeks' paid leave per year. Most workers get more than the four weeks required by the regulations. However, contractual holiday pay does not always measure up to the statutory provision, which is defined by the Employment Rights Act 1996 (sections 221 to 224).

The Amicus initiative follows revelations that a number of companies are calculating holiday pay based on basic salary alone, rather than including retention bonuses, shift premia and shift allowances. Balfour Beatty and Carillion are two of the companies that the union is investigating.

Paul Reuter, Amicus's national officer for transport, said: "The claims that we have already lodged at a tribunal are substantial, but we believe that this is only the tip of the iceberg. We will be investigating pay policies with a fine-tooth comb. Rail maintenance companies will be best advised to review their holiday payment policies or they will be pursued to tribunal."

The union is currently representing 230 employees who are thought to have received insufficient holiday pay.