The recent Court of Appeal case of Brazel v Harpur Trust has turned on its head, the basis of calculation for term time employees.

Brazel was a music teacher who worked under a zero hours’ contract. The number of hours to be worked were agreed between the worker and the school at the start of each term as this was dependent on the number of pupils requiring tuition. Brazel worked under a contract of employment however because of the nature of the work did not work during school holidays.

In line with ACAS guidance for casual workers, Harpur Trust calculated holidays as being the equivalent of 12.07% of annual hours worked.

The Court of Appeal classified Brazel as a part time worker and as such deemed that holiday pay should be calculated on the 12 week average of hours worked (this will of course change to 52 weeks from 6th April 2020). The effect on Brazel was to increase her holiday pay to 17.5% of annual pay, up from the 12.07% that the employer had calculated.

My advice to employers, take extra care when calculating holiday pay. The simple guide is to base the holiday pay on the average of the pay received over the previous 12 weeks.

Bring on 6 April 2020 and the change to 52 weeks!!!

For more information please contact Paul Chappell, Head of Legislation and Compliance at Dataplan Payroll Ltd on 03331 123456 or at paul.chappell@dataplan.co.uk