Annual leave and holiday pay

Sue Dennehy Editor's message: While some staff may have been asked to take annual leave during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, for example due to a lack of available work, others may struggle to take their leave entitlement as a result of the key role they are playing in the nation’s efforts to fight the virus.

Under the Working Time Regulations, workers are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks’ holiday a year (which can include bank and public holidays). Responding to the coronavirus crisis, the Government has announced that workers will be able to carry over up to four weeks of their statutory annual leave entitlement into the next two leave years.

The Working Time (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, which came into force on 26 March 2020, state that leave may be carried over where it “was not reasonably practicable for a worker to take some of all of the leave” to which they are entitled to due to the “effects of the coronavirus (including on the worker, the employer or on the wider economy and society)”.

Given some of the current scenarios preventing staff from working, such as a need to self-isolate, caring responsibilities (including as a result of school closures) and a refusal to work where there is a risk of exposure to coronavirus, employers may also have to consider unpaid leave.

Sue Dennehy, employment law editor

New and updated

Coronavirus and annual leave: Letter requiring a furloughed employee to take holiday

Type:

Policies and documents

A model HR letter to require an employee to take annual leave during furlough.
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Date:

28 May 2020

Type:

Podcasts and webinars

Darren Newman, employment lawyer, discusses the legal and practical considerations of managing annual leave during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Date:

27 May 2020

Type:

Commentary and analysis

With employers required to top up furloughed employees' pay for any annual leave they take, many will be anxious to avoid this extra expense at the current time. However, the result could be a glut of holiday requests towards the end of the leave year. Consultant editor Darren Newman looks at how the coronavirus amendments to the Working Time Regulations may help employers facing this situation.
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Law reports

Updated to reflect that permission to appeal to the Supreme Court has been granted in Flowers and others v East of England Ambulance Trust and Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and another v Agnew and others.
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Policies and documents

Updated to take into account government guidance on holiday entitlement and pay during coronavirus (COVID-19).
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Type:

Policies and documents

Updated to take into account government guidance on holiday entitlement and pay during coronavirus (COVID-19).
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Type:

Policies and documents

Updated to take into account Government guidance on holiday entitlement and pay during coronavirus (COVID-19).
When can annual leave be carried over due to the coronavirus crisis?

Type:

FAQs
Can an employee take annual leave while on furlough?

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FAQs
Can an employer require employees to use their annual leave during the coronavirus outbreak?

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FAQs

About this topic

HR and legal information and guidance relating to annual leave and holiday pay.