British Airways Plc v Williams and Others: SC 24 Mar 2010

The court was asked as to the calculation of annual leave pay for crew members in civil aviation under the Regulations. The company argued that it was based on the fixed annual remuneration, and the pilots argued that it should include other elements of pay.
Held: The position was not acte claire, and the case was referred to the ECJ.

Judges:

Lord Walker, Lady Hale, Lord Brown, Lord Mance, Lord Clarke

Citations:

[2010] UKSC 16

Links:

Bailii

Statutes:

The Civil Aviation (Working Time) Regulations 2004 (SI 2004 No. 756), Council Directive 2000/79/EC of 27 November 2000, Working Time Regulations 1998 (SI 1998 No. 1833)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

At EATBritish Airways Plc v Williams and others EAT 28-Feb-2008
EAT Working Time Regulations: Holiday Pay
Civil Aviation (Working Time) Regulations – whether the annual leave pay of airline pilots should be calculated by reference to their basic salary or their basic . .
Appeal fromBritish Airways Plc v Williams and Others CA 3-Apr-2009
The company appealed against an adverse finding on its holiday pay payments to its pilots, saying that the pay was subject to the 2004 Regulations alone. The Directive suggested that holiday pay should be at normal average rates of pay, but the . .
CitedTarmac Roadstone Holdings Ltd v Peacock CA 1973
Overtime hours are not part of normal working hours when calculating redundancy payments unless they are obligatory on both sides, that is, contractually guaranteed by the employer and compulsory for the employee.
Lord Denning MR said: ‘First, . .
CitedD Bamsey and others v Albon Engineering and Manufacturing Plc CA 25-Mar-2004
The applicants worked under an arrangement where they received considerable payments additional to their basic pay for compulsory overtime, but the holiday pay was calculated by the employer on the basic pay.
Held: The 1998 Regulations were . .
CitedMarleasing SA v La Comercial Internacional de Alimentacion SA ECJ 13-Nov-1990
Sympathetic construction of national legislation
LMA OVIEDO sought a declaration that the contracts setting up Commercial International were void (a nullity) since they had been drawn up in order to defraud creditors. Commercial International relied on an EC . .
CitedKucukdeveci v Swedex GmbH and Co KG ECJ 19-Jan-2010
ECJ Principle of non-discrimination on grounds of age – Directive 2000/78/EC – National legislation on dismissal not taking into account the period of employment completed before the employee reaches the age of . .
CitedPfeiffer v Deutsches Rotes Kreuz, Kreisverband Waldshut eV (1) ECJ 5-Oct-2004
ECJ Reference for a preliminary ruling: Arbeitsgericht Lorrach – Germany. Social policy – Protection of the health and safety of workers – Directive 93/104/EC – Scope – Emergency workers in attendance in . .

Cited by:

Reference fromWilliams And Others v British Airways Plc ECJ 16-Jun-2011
ECJ (Opinion) Working conditions – Organisation of working time – Article 7 of Directive 2003/88/EC – Right to paid annual leave – Extent of the obligations provided for by that directive in respect of the nature . .
Reference to ECJBritish Airways Plc v Williams and Others SC 17-Oct-2012
The claimants, airline pilots, and the company disputed the application of the 1998 Regulations to their employment. They sought pay for their annual leave made up of three elements: a proportionate part of the fixed annual sum paid for their . .
ReferenceWilliams And Others v British Airways Plc ECJ 15-Sep-2011
ECJ Working conditions – Directive 2003/88/EC – Organisation of working time – Right to annual leave – Airline pilots
ECJ Article 7 of Directive 2003/88/EC and clause 3 . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Employment, European

Updated: 16 August 2022; Ref: scu.406124