BA have found themselves in yet more hot water over what to and what not to include in the calculation for annual leave payments.
The claimants in this case were Cabin Crew working from 7 September 2007 to 10 September 2013. The claim being brought about by Unite who represented a large number of the Cabin Crew and related to 29 different allowances that Cabin Crew received. When their payment for annual leave was determined the allowances were not considered as relevant in the calculation. By the end of 2013, the majority of claimants had settled with BA and a new regime for allowance payments had been introduced with some being consolidated into a new pay element ‘Contractual Flying Pay’. Some complainants namely those involved in the current claim did not settle and persisted with a “claim for unpaid holiday pay”.
It was argued by those who continued on that BA had in effect artificially reduced liability towards Cabin Crew and themselves in particular by the use of allowances, where it was commonly known to be topping up basic wages.
The Tribunal had some 1,900 page of evidence to go through and had a number of difficulties to navigate and had to make clear the purpose of the court. However, it was concluded that the tax-free allowances that BA had paid to their Cabin Crew should have formed part of the calculation for holiday pay.
This decision not only has implications for additional costs to BA but also the Cabin Crew as all these allowances were paid tax free.
