JPP Law Blog
Overtime ruling in Veolia case could impact all employers
A group of refuse collectors have won an overtime claim that could have an impact on employers across the UK.
The workers were employed in the Bromley and Camden council areas by the French owned company, Veolia Environmental Services.
Their union, Unite, brought a test case relating to overtime payments. The Employment Tribunal found that voluntary overtime worked by the refuse collectors was part of their normal pay because there was an intrinsic link between that overtime and their role in the company.
In addition, the overtime was carried out with sufficient regularity to be part of their normal pay.
The effect is that the voluntary overtime must be included when calculating the first 20 days of holiday pay in accordance with EU law.
In addition, contractually agreed overtime must be included for the first 28 days' holiday in accordance with UK law.
Initially, Veolia said it had not included the overtime pay in holiday calculations because of uncertainty over Brexit, but it didn't pursue this during the hearing.
Unite's national officer for local government, Fiona Farmer, said: "This is a significant landmark case. This judgment will have widespread implications for the several thousand members we have working for Veolia Environmental Services across the UK, who should be getting average holiday pay and could be in line for backdated payments".
A Veolia spokesperson said: "We will examine our position further and continue to be in dialogue with Unite. We remain committed to complying with all of our legal obligations toward our employees."
The Employment Appeal Tribunal reached a similar conclusion in a case involving Dudley Council and 56 of its employees. It held that payment for voluntary overtime that was carried out regularly was "normal remuneration" for the purposes of calculating holiday pay, irrespective of whether the obligation to perform the work was in the employment contract or not.
To find out more about JPP's employment law services please visit employment law
JPP Law Blog

- Case Studies and Reviews (9)
- Commercial Law (88)
- Dispute Resolution (27)
- Employment Law (118)
- Intellectual Property (2)
- Start-ups (20)
- Videos (8)
- 2021 January (1)
- 2020 December (1)
- 2020 November (2)
- 2020 October (2)
- 2020 September (2)
- 2020 August (1)
- 2020 July (3)
- 2020 June (1)
- 2020 May (3)
- 2020 April (1)
- 2020 March (2)
- 2020 February (2)
- 2020 January (2)
- 2019 December (2)
- 2019 October (1)
- 2019 September (5)
- 2019 July (3)
- 2019 June (2)
- 2019 May (2)
- 2019 April (3)
- 2019 March (2)
- 2019 February (2)
- 2019 January (2)
- 2018 December (2)
- 2018 October (4)
- 2018 September (12)
- 2018 February (6)
- 2018 January (7)
- 2017 December (2)
- 2018 July (14)
- 2018 June (2)
- 2018 May (13)
- 2018 April (8)
- 2018 March (11)
- 2017 November (6)
- 2017 October (12)
- 2017 September (14)
- 2017 July (7)
- 2017 June (10)
- 2017 May (6)
- 2017 April (4)
- 2017 March (11)
- 2017 February (6)
- 2017 January (1)
- 2016 December (2)
- 2016 September (4)
- 2016 July (1)