Hourly pay for holidays

AntHolm

Hello all, 
I'm hoping someone can assist. My wife currently works for a home care company. She's on a zero hour contact but is paid £10:30 per hour and accumulates holidays depending how often she works.
After using some holiday days and receiving her latest pay slip it was lower than expected. From contacting her payroll department she found out they pay the national minimum wage for holidays rather then the £10:30 she would normally get per hour.
Everything I've found in the ACAS website seems to suggest this is not legal and workers should receive the same pay for holidays.

If anyone has experienced anything similar and can suggest where we go with this? The employer is refusing to budge on the matter!

Jillanddy

That's seems very odd. Are there any allowances or similar included in the normal hourly rate. I know many of these companies are rubbish employers, but they generally err on the side of staying legal, if not morally so. 

Of course, the catch is that you could challenge this legally (assuming there isn't a reason they are able to do this - I'm struggling to see one but maybe they have an explanation), but even just arguing back about it could mean that she gets no work. Have you asked them why they think they can pay on the NMW for holiday hours?

AntHolm

Many thanks for the reply. No no further allowance included in the normal hourly rate. There is an additional millage allowance paid but obviously this is not included in the holiday pay.
They have stated that it's written in the contract that they pay minimum wage but again the advice from ACAS is that this is not allowed and workers should be paid the same rate for holidays (why punish someone financially for using holiday days)

General_Grant

AntHolm said:

Many thanks for the reply. No no further allowance included in the normal hourly rate. There is an additional millage allowance paid but obviously this is not included in the holiday pay.
They have stated that it's written in the contract that they pay minimum wage but again the advice from ACAS is that this is not allowed and workers should be paid the same rate for holidays (why punish someone financially for using holiday days)

Did the call handler at ACAS suggest how to take this forward?  (Or is your statement just from reading the website?)

AntHolm

The call handler sent us some links to there website forward on to the payroll department. They have just replied with a copy of the contract stating it's paid at minimum wage. The ACAS stated that even if it was in the contract then it's still not right and pay should reflect the same rate as a working day. 
I was just hoping someone had a similar experience or situation and they could advise how they solved the problem. Obviously rocking the boat with the employer while on a zero hour contact could lead to less/ no shifts in the future.

oh_really

AntHolm said:

 Obviously rocking the boat with the employer while on a zero hour contact could lead to less/ no shifts in the future.

Then use this as an opportunity to focus attention and move on. I doubt there is a shortage of sector vacancies.

AntHolm

oh_really said:

AntHolm said:

 Obviously rocking the boat with the employer while on a zero hour contact could lead to less/ no shifts in the future.

Then use this as an opportunity to focus attention and move on. I doubt there is a shortage of sector vacancies.

Yes this could be an option and your right there is plenty of employment opportunities elsewhere. But like I said i was after finding someone who had a similar experience/issues and how they sorted it. Companies cannot be allowed to operate like this if it's breaching employment laws etc 

General_Grant

AntHolm said:

oh_really said:

AntHolm said:

 Obviously rocking the boat with the employer while on a zero hour contact could lead to less/ no shifts in the future.

Then use this as an opportunity to focus attention and move on. I doubt there is a shortage of sector vacancies.

Yes this could be an option and your right there is plenty of employment opportunities elsewhere. But like I said i was after finding someone who had a similar experience/issues and how they sorted it. Companies cannot be allowed to operate like this if it's breaching employment laws etc 

And to confirm - it is breaking the law if they seek to enforce the NMW rate when her contracted rate for normal work is higher.  She is legally entitled to the regular rate and a contract cannot remove her statutory right. 

AntHolm

Thanks for this Grant, we've not been in a situation like this before. I'm guessing citizens advice or something similar may point us in the right direction? Do we need to look at getting a solicitor or is it something you can do yourself?

Jillanddy

General_Grant said:

AntHolm said:

oh_really said:

AntHolm said:

 Obviously rocking the boat with the employer while on a zero hour contact could lead to less/ no shifts in the future.

Then use this as an opportunity to focus attention and move on. I doubt there is a shortage of sector vacancies.

Yes this could be an option and your right there is plenty of employment opportunities elsewhere. But like I said i was after finding someone who had a similar experience/issues and how they sorted it. Companies cannot be allowed to operate like this if it's breaching employment laws etc 

And to confirm - it is breaking the law if they seek to enforce the NMW rate when her contracted rate for normal work is higher.  She is legally entitled to the regular rate and a contract cannot remove her statutory right. 

But as has been said previously, this may be the law, but the law is largely toothless on the matter and she will almost certainly lose her work. If that is ok then you definitely don't want a solicitor - it will cost you more than you recover, She writes formally to her employer stating that they are acting illegally and that they owe her  (whatever they owe her).... If that doesn't get her money then she goes to ACAS makes a tribunal claim for the money. The employer would be stupid not to pay up as it is correct that a contract can't override law. But she won't have any further work either, so she may as well start looking for something else now. 

AntHolm

Yes I understand this could cause a number of issues for further employment with the same company. Think we may look at a power in numbers approach, I'm guessing most other workers (some who have been there longer than my wife) aren't aware of this issue and don't look at holiday pay as closely as my other half. Let's face it, it's not a massive difference but that doesn't make it right. 
We will work out the difference and write a letter/email see how we get on. As things stand I think they are so desperate for staff that she shouldn't lose any work but we shall see.