Karen Hall v Redwings Lodge Hotel — 2023

Karen Hall worked for Redwings Lodge Hotel from 7 August 2012 until she resigned on 7 October 2022. The only issue before the tribunal was whether she had accrued holiday pay or annual leave that had not been paid when her employment ended. Mrs Hall relied on payslips which she said showed annual leave accruing during furlough and flexi-furlough, while the respondent said the annual leave wording on that part of the payslip was an automated system error and that its holiday accounting was in hours rather than annual leave.

The tribunal accepted the respondent's evidence on the holiday calculations and the explanation for the payslip wording. It found that the relevant holiday year ran from 16 December to 15 December, that Mrs Hall's contract entitled her to 5.6 weeks' annual leave, and that the contract also provided for holiday accrued but not taken to be paid on termination. The tribunal found that Mrs Hall worked 1,202.75 hours in the holiday pay period 16 December 2021 to 15 December 2022, that 80.14 hours of accrued holiday was paid in her final pay in October 2022, and that the holiday pay worksheet showed how holiday was accrued and deducted.

The tribunal also found that Mrs Hall had been paid holiday pay for previous years, including when she was on furlough and flexi-furlough, and relied on a February 2022 payslip showing 40 hours of holiday pay as supporting that conclusion. Although it accepted that the payslip reference to annual leave was confusing and could mislead Mrs Hall, it held that the payslip wording did not prove that annual leave had accrued in the way she contended.

The claim for breach of contract based on unpaid holiday pay was therefore not well founded and did not succeed. No monetary award was made.