Flintshire Council facing more than 300 employment tribunal claims over holiday pay
Flintshire County Council is facing more than 300 live employment tribunal claims linked to holiday pay.
A Cabinet report states that the financial impact is still being determined following claims submitted as a result of the Employment Appeal Tribunal decision in the case of Harpur Trust v Brazel.
The Supreme Court upheld that judgment in July 2022. The ruling affects how holiday pay is calculated for employees who work irregular hours or only part of the year, such as term-time staff.
The case centred on a music teacher at Bedford Girls’ School who was employed on a zero-hours contract and worked during term time only.
Her employer, Harpur Trust calculated holiday pay using a method that paid 12.07% of earnings at the end of each term, in line with ACAS guidance at the time.
She argued her holiday pay should instead be based on average weekly earnings over a reference period. The courts agreed.
The Supreme Court held that part-year workers are entitled to the full 5.6 weeks’ statutory holiday and that this entitlement should not be reduced to reflect the number of weeks actually worked.
The judgment means holiday pay for some part-year or zero-hours employees may represent a higher proportion of annual earnings than that of a full-time employee.
The council report states there are currently “300+ live employment claims” progressing through the employment tribunal.
Several preliminary hearings have already taken place.
The next preliminary hearing is scheduled for 5 March 2026.
The council currently holds £0.254m in reserves to meet potential costs arising from the claims.
The report warns there is a risk that the final cost “may be considerably more” than that amount.
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