Call to take roll-up pay to the European Court

Leaders of UCATT will be urged to take the issue of rolled-up holiday pay to the European Court when the union holds its biennial delegate conference at Scarborough on 7-11 June.
A conference motion submitted by the London and South Eastern regional council said the introduction of the Working Time Regulations has proved a major step forward for construction workers in providing a legal right to paid holidays. But it claims that there are two major flaws in the current legislation.
First, it can be interpreted as allowing employers to flout the intention of the regulations by rolling up holiday money in an hourly rate. Second, it allows employers to offset payment for bank holidays against the entitlement under the Working Time Regulations
The UCATT executive council will be asked to tackle the roll-up issue by pursuing an appropriate test case at the European Court. It will similarly be called on to seek amendment of the current legislation to deal with the second point.
The preliminary conference agenda includes a number of motions expressing concern at the exploitation of migrant workers on construction sites.
On health and safety matters, the Coventry branch is set to call for much tougher legal powers for worker safety representatives. These include a right of access to sites, and rights to issue provisional improvement notices and to stop the job where necessary.
A further motion demands an additional levy through the CITB-ConstructionSkills to fund an occupational health scheme.