Holiday pay implications for workers in the gig economy

Workers should not need to take leave before it is established whether they are entitled to holiday pay an advocate general at the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has said.

This was his opinion in King v The Sash Window Workshop Ltd (Case C-214/16)) in which a salesman earned income through commission but was not paid for leave. The company offered Mr King an employee contract but he elected to remain self-employed. After 13 years’ service he was dismissed aged 65.

An employment tribunal found Mr King to be a worker and therefore entitled to holiday pay. The Court of Appeal referred the case to the CJEU.

The advocate general said that if a worker did not take all or some of his annual entitlement in the leave year because the employer would not pay him the right carried over until he had the opportunity to...