The Emerging Rights Of Atypical Employees

The Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR) which implemented the Working Time Directive (93/104/EC) came into force on 1 October 1998. The Regulations provide amongst other things, that a worker is entitled to 20 days holidays per year (reg 13) and that if such an entitlement is not taken at the time of termination of employment, the worker is entitled to be paid in lieu of accrued holidays (reg. 14).

The "catch" to this statutory right is that the right to 4 weeks paid holiday per year "does not arise until a worker has been continuously employed for 13 weeks" (reg 13(7)(8). This means that casual workers and those on short term contracts of less than 13 weeks are denied paid holiday.

Some employers have resorted to the use of 12 week contracts and this was evident in the private teaching profession where...