Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Case lawLatest NewsEmployment tribunalsHolidays and holiday pay

Former Pimlico Plumbers worker not entitled to holiday pay

by Ashleigh Webber 17 Mar 2021
by Ashleigh Webber 17 Mar 2021 Gary Smith leaving the Supreme Court in 2018
PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo
Gary Smith leaving the Supreme Court in 2018
PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo

An engineer who claimed he was owed holiday pay by Pimlico Plumbers, after the Supreme Court ruled that he was a worker and not self-employed, has been unsuccessful in his latest claim for backdated payments.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has upheld the Croydon employment tribunal’s 2019 ruling that Gary Smith had not filed his claim for backdated holiday pay quickly enough. Under tribunal rules, he should have made his claim for missed pay within three months of each holiday period, dating back to 2005.

Holiday pay and worker status

Pimlico Plumbers worker wins Supreme Court battle

Holiday and holiday pay

Determining employment status

Smith had been seeking £74,000 in compensation for holiday pay relating to his time working for the plumbing firm, between 2005 and 2011.

The Croydon tribunal had also dismissed Smith’s disability discrimination claim.

In the latest case before the EAT, Smith argued the tribunal had not correctly applied the case law in this area and had erroneously concluded that he had not shown that it was not reasonably practicable for him to bring the claim within the three month time limit.

His argument centred around how the tribunal had applied the precedent set in the case of King v Sash Window Company – another case that considered pay for holiday that had been taken and accrued by a worker.

However, the EAT agreed with the tribunal that Pimlico Plumbers did not discriminate against Smith and that he is not entitled to backdated holiday pay.

The judgment says: “The CJEU’s decision in King was not concerned with leave that was taken but unpaid, and there was nothing in it to suggest that the carry-over rights in respect of annual leave that is not taken (because of the employer’s failure to remunerate such leave) applied to leave that was in fact taken.

“The tribunal had also not erred in determining that it had been reasonably practicable for the claimant to have brought his claim in respect of holiday pay within the relevant time limits.”

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Pimlico Plumbers chairman Charlie Mullins commented: “This has been a long-running case and one that has attracted a huge amount of media attention, so I am extremely pleased that Pimlico has been completely vindicated by the EAT, and I hope that after almost a decade in the courts this case has finally been put to rest.”

Latest HR job opportunities on Personnel Today

Browse more human resources jobs

Ashleigh Webber

Ashleigh is a former editor of OHW+ and former HR and wellbeing editor at Personnel Today. Ashleigh's areas of interest include employee health and wellbeing, equality and inclusion and skills development. She has hosted many webinars for Personnel Today, on topics including employee retention, financial wellbeing and menopause support.

previous post
Uber agrees to give drivers minimum wage and employment rights
next post
Pay awards set to remain at 2% in 2021

You may also like

Restaurant tips should be included in holiday pay

21 May 2025

Bank holidays: six things employers need to know

2 May 2025

Top 10 HR questions March 2025: Carrying over...

2 Apr 2025

Easter bank holidays: Do you owe staff an...

24 Mar 2025

Top 10 HR questions February 2025: Supporting employees...

4 Mar 2025

Top 10 HR questions January 2025: TUPE employee...

4 Feb 2025

Storm Éowyn: Five common employer queries about severe...

24 Jan 2025

Holiday pay reforms in 2025: what HR needs...

16 Dec 2024

Top 10 HR questions October 2024: National living...

1 Nov 2024

Employment Rights Bill: Fair Work Agency will operate...

10 Oct 2024

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+