Employers must include annual leave and bank holidays when
calculating how much pay to deduct for strike action, the High
Court ruled today. UNISON, the UK’s largest public sector union,
brought the test case, Cooper v Isle of Wight College, following
strike action to protect members’ pension rights in March last year.
The decision means that the Isle of Wight College should have
deducted only 1/260th of the annual salary of a striker for the 1-day
strike not 1/228th. The ruling has implications for all employers
making deductions from employees’ wages for taking strike action.
UNISON has consistently argued that the correct method of
deducting salaries during strike action is to deduct the weekend
and other non-working days (but not annual leave or bank
holidays) resulting in a formula of 1/260th of the annual salary for a
day’s strike.
Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary, said: