Holiday entitlement and the Working Time Directive

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Advice to freelancers

Don't forget that your right to four weeks' paid holiday at your basic rate is enshrined in UK and European law as a fundamental legal right. If you are told at interview that holiday entitlement will be included in your basic rate, be in no doubt that what this actually constitutes is a negotiated pay cut to your basic rate by about a thirteenth.

The advice offered by BECTU to their members is simply to be very clear from the start about what your BASIC rate is. Remember that the law is primarily concerned with your 'contractual' rate. If the inclusion of holiday pay in your rate is discussed and agreed at interview, and you then sign a contract confirming this reduced basic rate, it will be very hard for you to argue that you had a more binding prior agreement. If, however, you write to a prospective employer at the earliest possible opportunity - ideally before a contract is issued - confirming your basic rate, and expressly saying this rate excludes any element of consolidated holiday pay, you have taken the initiative in establishing your basic rate in writing.

Reproduced with kind permission from BECTU, here is an example form of wording:

" I am writing to confirm that I accept your offer of work in the capacity of Make-Up Artist on Pride and Prejudice starting on November 19th 2003. We have agreed that my basic rate of pay will be £850 per 55-hour week. For clarity, this rate does not include any element of consolidated holiday pay."

If, in fact, you hear nothing about inclusive holiday rates or a lower basic rate until you receive a contract, and you have already started the job, your employer is on very shaky ground. You have accepted the work on the basis of the verbal discussion, and in the absence of any other contract, your earlier verbally agreed rate was contractually binding - and if you submitted this in writing, as suggested by BECTU, you have strong evidence of the fact. Your employer has therefore attempted to unilaterally reduce your contractual rate without your agreement to cover your holiday pay, and there is a clear precedent in case law to suggest that this is unlawful.

In addition to BECTU's advice, we'd urge you to stand up for your basic rate. You may be told that the policy of reducing a rate is standard practice. But a knowledge of your rights will give you more negotiating power to resist this statement.


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