Pay during holidays is calculated in the same way as a normal week’s pay. This simple but important principle was established after many years of litigating by trade unions, up to the level of the European Court of Justice.

These cases have established that holiday pay must be comparable to the pay you receive when working. It must include any component of your normal wages that is linked to the performance of contractual duties. So, for example, it should include:

• Results-based commission pay that would have been earned if you had not been on holiday;
• Regular overtime pay, both guaranteed and non-guaranteed;
• Travel-time payments;
• Shift premiums;
• Weekend premium payments; and
• Anti-social hours payments.