Mr A White v Swissport GB Limited — 2020

The tribunal considered the claimant's complaint that he had not received his full statutory annual leave entitlement under the Working Time Regulations 1998. Applying the respondent's eight-week roster pattern, the tribunal found that the claimant worked an average of 4.375 days per week and that 5.6 weeks' leave therefore equated to 24.5 days rather than 28 days. Using the claimant's average working day of 8.6 hours, the tribunal concluded that 210 hours was the correct annual leave entitlement.

The tribunal accepted that, for a worker on variable-length shifts, it was appropriate to convert leave entitlement into hours. It therefore held that the respondent's calculation of 210 hours was correct and lawful, and that the claimant had received his full entitlement in 2018. Although the tribunal concluded that the respondent had under-calculated the claimant's leave in part of 2017, that aspect was out of time and there was no continuing default.

On the sick pay complaint, the tribunal did not make a substantive finding that deductions had been wrongly made. It held that there was no evidence of loss during the period covered by the claim, and that the example relied on by the claimant related to a date after the claim had been presented. The tribunal dismissed that complaint. It also expressed concern that employees were not given regular information showing their running holiday entitlement and remaining balance.