Q & A: Who could be entitled to thousands in unpaid wages?

Many UK workers could be entitled to thousands of pounds unfairly taken from their pay following a landmark Supreme Court ruling in a successful challenge brought by UNISON. The case was between police workers (officers and staff) and their employer: the Northern Ireland police force. Formally titled Chief Constable of Police Service of Northern Ireland v Agnew, the case was about underpayment of holiday pay over a period of 25 years. UNISON intervened in the case and the workers won. Here, the union’s head of legal services, Shantha David, explains exactly what happened – and what this means for all workers. How did this case end up in the Supreme Court? In short, police workers in Northern Ireland who were regularly working overtime had not seen pay for their additional hours reflected in their holiday pay. In 2018, when the workers took their case to an employment tribunal, the judge ruled that the Police Service of Northern Ireland had made unlawful deductions from the holiday pay of almost 4,000 officers and civilian staff since 1998. While the Police Service accepted the workers had been underpaid, they disputed the period of time (and back pay) for which the staff could recover the money. This was the focus of UNISON’s challenge in the case. Employment law requires that claims for wage deductions are brought to a tribunal within three months, and that other previous similar deductions can also be claimed. For example, if regular overtime was omitted in a pe...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article News employment law supreme court unison legal Source Type: news