MILLIONS of workers face losing holiday pay because of a government attack on workers’ rights introduced when Britain was in the European Union, the TUC warns today.

As Parliament resumes sitting this week, the government is pushing through its Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act, which will allow it to abolish domestic laws that were introduced in line with EU legislation.

Regulations concerning holiday pay are among the laws set to be scrapped.

Under the current regulations, workers’ holiday pay is based on their normal pay plus regular overtime, the TUC said.

The new Act will allow bosses to calculate holiday pay on basic pay alone, excluding regular extra earnings such as overtime, bonuses and commission.

TUC analysis shows that 3.5 million people — one in eight of Britain’s workforce — regularly work overtime and would be affected by its exclusion from holiday pay calculations.

According to the union confederation, overtime is most common among the lowest-paid workers, so they would be hit hardest.

The government’s proposed changes would also let employers include holiday pay in hourly rates of pay spread over the year, said the TUC.

Low-paid workers who are forced to spend their money putting food on the table would have to either take unpaid time off for holidays or forgo them, it warned.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “No-one should be left out of pocket when they take time off.

“But the Tories’ plan to meddle with the way holiday pay is calculated could see millions of grafters who do regular overtime worse off when they take holiday.

“This would be a huge blow to working people in every corner of the country.

“The last thing they need is less money when they take a well-earned break.

“Having time off shouldn’t be the preserve of the wealthy,” Mr Nowak said. “Working people are already working around the clock to make ends meet — and too many are exhausted.

“Ministers must protect working people’s holiday pay and ditch these plans without delay.”

He called for support for Labour’s proposal for a “new deal for workers.”

British workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of statutory paid holiday, of which four weeks stem from EU law.