HR file: Paid leave entitlement

Most workers in the UK have the right to 5.6 weeks’ paid leave under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR).

The WTR state that a worker is entitled to be paid ‘a week’s pay for a week’s leave’. However, the calculation of a week’s pay is within yet another piece of legislation: the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA).

The situation has been further confused in recent years by various court decisions, culminating in BEAR Scotland and others v Mr David Fulton and others. This case determined that UK domestic law has failed to apply the requirements of the EU Working Time Directive (EU WTD).