In a recent judgment (Lock vs British Gas Trading Limited) the European Court confirmed that employees who receive variable pay which is “intrinsically linked to their contract of employment” including commission payment should be paid basic salary plus the variable pay during periods of vacation leave.  

The Court stated that the paid vacation leave is to put a worker in the position he would have been had he been at work and should include pay which is “linked intrinsically to the performance of the tasks which the worker is required to carry out under his contract of employment.”  If the variable portion of the salary is not included, the employee would be paid less during a period of vacation leave, consequently acting as a deterrent for employees from actually taking their vacation leave.