Dr J Moyer-Lee, General Secretary IWUGB Claimants: Mr E Anselmo, Mr B Bonnici, Mr A Cordeiro and Mr F De Macedo were not represented and did not appear For the v Respondent — 2020

This was a preliminary hearing on linked annual leave and holiday pay issues brought by courier claimants against The Doctors Laboratory Ltd. The tribunal proceeded on the basis that the claimants were workers and found it was not in dispute that before 1 January 2018 the respondent provided no paid annual leave, while from 1 January 2018 it did. Some claimants had also taken days away from work during their engagement, and the tribunal noted that the individual working patterns and any later remedy issues would need further fact-finding if not agreed.

Applying King v Sash Window Workshop Ltd, the tribunal held that where a claimant had not taken annual leave at all, the right to do so carried over from year to year. Where leave had actually been taken, however, the tribunal held that the issue was one of pay, not a right to take the same leave again. It also held that unpaid days away from work could be relevant and, where leave had been taken, could amount to annual leave for Working Time Regulations purposes, but the reasons for any leave not taken would still matter.

On limitation, the tribunal rejected the submission that all claims were automatically in time from 31 December 2017 and declined to import a six-year County Court contract limitation period. It held that the Working Time Regulations and Employment Rights Act 1996 limitation rules applied, including the Bear Scotland approach to breaks in a series and the two-year backdating limit. The tribunal also held that Article 47 CFR did not require the wider remedy claimed, that payment in lieu was not available while the engagement continued, and that there was no entitlement to punitive damages. It left open the need for further fact-finding and, potentially, a remedy hearing.