A ruling of the European Court of Justice could mean back-dated payouts for thousands of workers across Scotland. The judgment allows employees throughout the UK to claim holiday pay for regular overtime, commission and shift allowances.
The case was brought by a British Gas employee who received only his basic pay, without commission, when he took holiday leave. As a result of being paid only his basic pay, the employee was losing more than half of his average earnings over that period.The court ruled that this was unlawful under the Working Time Directive.
This development has been described as the most significant development in employment law since women received equal pay. Legal officer for the union Unison, which raised the case, said:
"The court has said that holiday pay should be your normal pay and that can be taken to include regular overtime and shift payments - the court is clear on that."
Payments could be back-dated for up to16 years. This has created fear in the business sector that this may put some firms out of business. Initially thought that as a result of a European Court of Justice judgment from May, only workers who earned commission would be affected. However, lawyers have noted that this ruling could stretch further.The ruling is thought to include Scots workers who rely on income from overtime and unusual shift work to make extra money.
It is believed that workers from every sector will qualify for backdated holiday pay, as these extra payments are a regular part of their pay packet.
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