Holidays to be taken during down time

Employers can allocate statutory holidays to weeks where their staff would not otherwise be working following a ruling by the Supreme Court  on 7 December 2011. This decision was made in relation to workers in the off-shore oil industry working a ‘two weeks on, two weeks off’ shift pattern, but may be extended to other circumstances.

The employees claimed their employer was not complying with the Working Time Regulations because they were required to take their statutory holidays at times when they would not be working anyway. The Supreme Court has confirmed that there is nothing in the Regulations that prevents holidays being allocated in this way.

Had the claim been successful, the way would have been open for large numbers of workers with non-standard working patterns, such as teachers, to challenge their contractual terms.  The practice of requiring teachers and other workers in the education sector to take their annual leave during school holidays has been challenged before but lower courts decided in favour of the employers.  This is now confirmed by the higher court decision.

In the ruling it was observed that the total length of ‘field breaks’ (on-shore time with no work) is substantially more than the minimum of four weeks’ annual leave to which the workers are entitled under the WTR (Working Time Regulations) and so the paid annual leave entitlement was discharged by two weeks onshore within the shift pattern.