Yes, was the view of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in
Lock v British Gas Trading Limited last
week. This decision is consistent with the
earlier opinion of the Advocate General in the same case which was
given on 5 December 2013. Employees should not be deterred
from taking annual leave and they might be if their income would be
lower because of a period of annual leave taken when they would be
unable to generate commission, albeit that the actual reduction in
earnings would not occur until after the annual leave.
The case concerned an individual, Mr. Lock, who received a basic
salary but earned commission on top which was variable depending on
sales achieved and not on time worked. The commission element
made up, on average, 60% of his monthly earnings. As he could
not earn commission whilst on leave his income would be lower if he
took leave. Having issued his claim for holiday pay, the
employment tribunal referred it to the ECJ, specifically to
question
