THE implications for North-East businesses of a ground-breaking ruling on employees' holiday pay entitlement will be under the spotlight at an event this week.

Specialist employment law firm Collingwood Legal is holding a free breakfast seminar at the Gosforth Park Marriott Hotel on Thursday to examine how regional firms could be affected by the Employment Appeal Tribunal's decision earlier this month that voluntary overtime pay should be factored into workers' holiday pay.

The ruling has the potential to dramatically increase costs for employers, with fears expressed by both the CBI and Institute of Directors that many SMEs will be forced out of business as a result, and Business Secretary Vince Cable has already said he will be setting up a task force to assess its impact.

The seminar will update employers on the current legal position, explain the implications of the recent EAT ruling, explore practical ways in which businesses can be protected and provide advice on what to do if any employee claims for holiday pay are lodged against their firms.

Established in 2010, Collingwood Legal is an relationship-based practice which advises some of the region’s largest organisations on all aspects of employment law, and is the only firm in the North East to have four practitioners named as employment law experts in the latest edition of the legal industry’s primary reference guide, The Legal 500.

Paul McGowan, founder and principal lawyer at Collingwood Legal, says: “The Federation of Small Businesses has estimated that the EAT's ruling could affect around 400,000 firms in the UK, and as employers come to terms with these changes, it will be obvious that this is just the beginning of a potentially costly and risky issue.

"It's a ruling that's going to impact on both the private and public sectors, and it will be particularly relevant to industries such as manufacturing, where regular overtime is an indispensible part of many firms' operations, and in sales environments in which much of an employee's income is commission-based.

"North-East businesses need to first understand whether and to what extent they're captured by this decision, and to then move to reduce future risks by fixing the issues they're facing as far and as quickly as they can.

"A number of issues remain unclear, and the position around how any claims might be backdated is complex. We've had a number of questions over the last week from North East businesses about what it might mean to them in practice, questions which we'll be looking to explore at our event."

To reserve a place at Collingwood Legal free breakfast seminar, please contact Sue Graham via sue.graham@collingwoodlegal.com or on 0191 282 288.