New Ruling On Holiday Pay Claims

The Supreme Court rules that a 3 month gap between underpayments will not automatically break a series of deductions

Facts of Chief Constable of Police Service of Northern Ireland v Agnew

In this case, over 3,600 police officers and civilian employees brought claims for underpayment of their holiday pay going back to 1998. The underpayments had arisen because the holiday pay was calculated using basic pay only and not overtime. The Supreme Court was asked to decide how many years back the Claimants could claim.

Background

A claim for unlawful deduction from wages must be brought within three months of the alleged deduction. Where there has been a series of deductions, the time limit begins to run from the date of the last deduction in the series.