Untaken holiday under a zero hours contract

Zero hours contracts have been taking a bit of a kicking from senior politicians of late who will no doubt be pleased to see a recent decision of the employment tribunal in Podlasiak v Edinburgh Woollen Mill Ltd. When Mrs P left her employment she was owed 3 days holiday and her employer followed a provision in her contract and paid her £1 basing the argument on her zero hours contract. 

It may sound like a good wheeze but the Tribunal were having none of it and decided that she was entitled to be paid at her “normal pay” level awarding her the princely sum of  £176. OK so still not a massive sum but an important pointer for the future where the sums involved may be higher!