Update - Harpur Trust V Brazel November 2023

The government has published the long-awaited outcome to the consultation it undertook earlier this year into calculating holiday entitlement for part-year and irregular hours workers. The government considered that the Supreme Court’s decision in the Harpur Trust v Brazel case resulted in part-year workers being entitled to a greater annual leave entitlement than part-time workers who work the same number of hours across the year. The consultation sought views on whether introducing a 52-week reference period for calculating holiday entitlement was the best way to respond to the effects of this judgment.

The outcome can be viewed here:

The headlines:

Our initial review suggests that the government intends to take the following steps:

• Introduce an accrual method for calculating holiday

The introduction of an accrual method will be for calculating holiday entitlement for irregular hours workers and part-year workers, and will be the method of calculation in their first year of employment and beyond. Entitlement will be calculated as 12.07% of hours worked in a pay period. Other workers will continue to accrue leave at 1/12th of their entitlement on the first day of each month during their first year of employment.

• Sanction rolled-up holiday pay (RHP)

The government will introduce and legislate to allow RHP for irregular hours workers and part-year workers only.

• Introduce a definition of irregular hour workers & part-year workers

The Government will define in legislation what is meant by irregular hours workers and part-year workers. Stakeholders requested that the Government is clearer on who this captures in relation to the effect of the Harpur v Brazel judgment.

Next steps 

The next step in relation to this will be for the government to formally propose the changes to the legislation and introduce new legislation as appropriate. Whether this is achievable before the next general election will be confirmed in the coming months. In the meantime, this leaves employers in a difficult position as to what they should be doing now regarding holiday pay. We would strongly advise employers to speak with their HR and/or legal providers to discuss their particular circumstances. 

We will of course keep you updated on any progress.

Should you have any questions please direct them to HolidayPayEnquiries@stoneking.co.uk