British Airways plc v Williams (2011) C-155/10 is a UK labour law and EU law decision by the European Court of Justice regarding the right to holidays with pay, which is found in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights article 24, the Working Time Directive and the Working Time Regulations 1998. Williams itself was decided under analogous rules found in the Civil Aviation (Working Time) Regulations 2004. It held that variable components in pay, such as bonuses, must be included in the amount of pay people receive while they are on holiday.^[1][2]

Williams, and other pilots who worked for British Airways claimed that their holiday pay was too low, because it only reflected his fixed salary, and not his bonuses. Williams' comprised a fixed annual salary, a "flying pay supplement" that went up the more he flew, and a "time away from base" which went up the more he was away from home. The flying and time away allowances were capped. Properly construed, his contract suggested that his holiday pay would be at the rate of only his fixed salary. Williams, however, contended that this was contrary to the Civil Aviation Working Time Directive,^[3] as implemented by the Civil Aviation (Working Time) Regulations 2004,^[4] (sector-specific implementations with the same objective as the Working Time Directive and the Working Time Regulations 1998 in this respect). In absence of particular provisions, the pay while on leave should be "normal remuneration". British Airways contended that because the Employment Rights Act 1996 sections 221 to 224 did not have provisions on how to determine a week's pay, the rate should be determined with reference to the contract.

Under the Civil Aviation (Working Time) Regulations 2004, which enacted the European directive 2000/79/EC, airline crew are entitled to a minimum of four weeks 'paid annual leave'. Under UK law, this meant that airline crew were in general entitled to 'normal or comparable pay' whilst on leave. BA crew were paid a basic fixed wage, but they also received additional payment in the form of a 'Flying Pay Supplement' and a 'Time Away from Base Allowance'. During periods of statutory leave, staff, including the appellants, were paid according to their basic wage, without any allowance for time that they would have spent flying, or away from base, had they been working according to their usual patterns.

A case was brought in the Employment Tribunals by approximately 2,750 BA pilots, who argued that the 'normal pay' condition under UK law meant that BA were obliged to pay them as though they had spent time away from base and on flights during their annual leave. Their claim was successful in both the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeals Tribunal.

• 2010 Judgments of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
• Employment law
• Working Time Directive
• British Airways