'Rolled Up' Holiday Pay Decision

Blackburn v Gridquest (CA, 23/7/02)

The Court of Appeal has given its decision in Gridquest, holding that it is not permissible to 'roll-up' holiday pay within ordinary weekly remuneration in circumstances where there was no express agreement to that effect.

Thus if an employer pays (say) £5.30ph to an employee, of which £5 is intended to represent basic wage and 30p intended to represent holiday pay, then the employer remains obliged to pay a full four weeks' annual holiday pay based upon £5.30ph. It cannot have credit for the 30p payments that have been made during the year.

The position remains unclear where employer and employee have expressly agreed that an element of the weekly wage should represent rolled-up holiday pay.

The decision is not yet available on the internet, but will soon be published at http://www.courtservice.gov.uk/judgments/judg_home.htm