Miss E Dewick v Cambridge Care Company Limited — 2021

The claimant was employed by Cambridge Care Company Limited as a care worker from 30 September 2019 to 6 April 2020. The parties agreed the relevant holiday year ran from 1 April to 31 March, that the claimant was paid £8.27 per hour, that she worked eight hours a day, and that she took no annual leave between the start of her employment and 31 March 2020. She claimed accrued statutory holiday pay for that period, which she calculated as one half of the statutory entitlement, rounded up to 14 days.

The tribunal accepted the respondent's argument that there was no entitlement to carry over unused holiday into the next year under the handbook, and it held that regulation 13(9) of the Working Time Regulations 1998 required statutory leave to be taken in the leave year in which it fell due unless the employment was terminated. It found that the claimant's employment was not terminated until 6 April 2020, which was in the following leave year, so regulation 14 did not assist her claim for the earlier year. The tribunal also found that she was not prevented from taking leave by sickness, maternity leave, or any similar reason, but simply chose not to book any holiday.

On that basis the claim for accrued holiday pay failed and was dismissed. The judgment also records that the respondent's counterclaim for breach of contract was dismissed upon withdrawal.