The House of Lords has today given its long awaited judgement in the Stringer case (previously known as Ainsworth).

The House of Lords allowed the employees' appeal, overturning the Court of Appeal's earlier decision and substituting the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

The case had previously been referred to the European Court of Judgement which held, earlier this year, that employees on long-term sick leave do accrue holiday and are entitled to be paid for that holiday if their employment terminates. However, some open issues remained and the case was referred back to the UK Court where it was hoped these would be resolved.

Disappointingly, the House of Lords' decision focuses on a very narrow issue, namely can an employee who has not received payment in lieu of accrued but untaken holiday on the termination of their employment bring an unlawful deduction from wages claim or do they have to bring a claim under the Working Time Regulations 1998? The answer was important because there is a more generous time limit for an unlawful deduction from wages claim.

The House of Lords decided unanimously that an employee could bring an unlawful deduction from wages claim and this will allow a claim to go back more than three months if there is a series of underpayments by the employer.