How this lad’s zero hours court victory could help you unlock money you’re owed
A zero hours worker is urging other employees to check their holiday entitlement after he was awarded nearly £600 over unpaid holiday
LAD who has a zero hours contract with a Plymouth security firm has been awarded nearly £600 over unpaid holiday - a right he says many fellow workers ignore they have.
Helier Heath, 23, worked as a security guard for Crown Security Solutions for about three months.
During his time at the company, the young man did not receive any holiday pay. After doing some digging about his legal rights as a zero hours worker, he took his employer to a small claims court.
He told the Sun Online: "I checked my holiday rights because I expected to be paid some holiday when I took leave as it was in the contract, but I'd never been paid it (and there was no way to claim it either) so I looked up what the law said on it."
He added that he first tried to raise the issue with his employer by email.
Mr Heath said: "Their excuse was that I hadn't given them enough notice - as its a zero-hours contract, my contracted hours were zero.
But he said that if you've left the company, it is worth claiming some money back.
";If you have left within the last three months then you can go through an employment tribunal which is easier and offers you more protection.
"If there are lots of you in the same firm with the same problem, its worth talking to your colleagues and possibly taking action together, and if you are a member of a trade union, contact them!"
The way zero-hours contracts operate is that employees only work when they are needed and are often given little notice before shifts.
The amount of pay will depend on how many hours they work.
Workers on zero-hours contracts often get no sick pay, but their holiday pay should be included due to working time regulations.
Legally, zero hours workers have the same entitlement to paid holiday, based on the average hours they have worked.
WORKERS' RIGHTS What are zero-hours contracts, how many UK workers are on them and why do employers use them?
Despite this, says thousands of workers on zero-hours contracts miss out on paid holiday because they are either lied to by their employer or they do not know their rights.
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