Mr I Houghton v Sime Darby Oils Liverpool Refinery Limited — 2023

Mr Houghton worked for Sime Darby Oils Liverpool Refinery Limited as a Packaging Technician from 1 November 2016 until his resignation took effect on 29 June 2022. He brought complaints about unauthorised deductions from wages, a declaration and compensation under Regulation 30 of the Working Time Regulations 1998, and breach of contract arising out of alleged accrued but untaken holiday.

The tribunal found that his contract and the annual leave policy provided for 264 hours of paid leave per year for a 5-shift worker, and that all holidays were rostered within the shift pattern. It accepted that the rota was predictable, that the claimant had guaranteed rest days, an 18-day summer break, and cover days that were usually not worked, and that he could see his non-working periods in advance on the annual rota.

Applying Russell v Transocean International Resources Ltd and the Regulation 15 notice provisions, the tribunal held that the guaranteed rest days, the summer break, and any cover days when the claimant was not the nominated person or reserve were periods available for annual leave. It found that these periods were more than enough to satisfy both the contractual leave entitlement and the statutory entitlement under the Working Time Regulations, including the 132 hours that would have accrued in the six months of the 2022 leave year before termination.

On that basis, the tribunal concluded that there was no accrued but untaken leave at termination, no unlawful deduction from wages, and no breach of contract. The complaint for a declaration and compensation under Regulation 30 also failed on the same reasoning, and all claims were dismissed.