The 2020 holiday season is going to look a little different in the current global pandemic. As the world starts to transition to a new ‘normal’ and businesses begin to re-open, holiday entitlement is going to be a complicated issue for both employers and workers.
All workers are entitled to the statutory minimum of 28 days’ (or 5.6 weeks’) holiday each year, including bank holidays. The usual rule is that workers cannot carry over annual leave into the next year, meaning they lose their holiday if they do not take it.
Taking Holiday Whilst on Furlough
Employees continue to accrue holiday as usual whilst on furlough leave, in accordance with their contract of employment, and can take annual leave during furlough without bringing the period of furlough leave to an end.
Employers are, however, required to pay employees their normal holiday pay during furlough leave and will therefore need to top up any furlough pay to the employee’s full salary.
Requiring Workers to Use Holiday
Employers may require workers to use up some of their annual leave in order to ensure that long periods of holiday do not accrue for a significant number of workers whilst on furlough, or to deal with any shutdown periods.
Employers may ask workers to take some of their holiday entitlement, providing they provide notice. The correct period of notice is twice the length of the requested holiday, i.e. if an employer wants workers to take two weeks’ holiday, they must give the workers four weeks’ notice.
The government guidance on insisting workers take holiday whilst on furlough, is that ‘the employer should consider whether any restrictions the worker is under, such as the need to socially distance or self-isolate, would prevent the worker from resting, relaxing and enjoying leisure time, which is the fundamental purpose of holiday’. Whether an employer can therefore force a worker to take holiday at all during lockdown is not entirely clear.
Carry Over of Holiday
At the outset of the pandemic, the government passed emergency legislation enabling workers to carry over four weeks’ leave into the next two leave years where it has not been ‘reasonably practicable’ for them to take that leave as a result of the effects of the coronavirus (‘including on the worker, the employer, or the wider economy of society)’.
This is most likely to apply where workers have been self-isolating or have had to continue working due to a business need. The new regulations only deal with the four weeks’ leave provided by EU law. The balance of the 1.6 weeks’ statutory leave will not be affected but can already be carried over by agreement. The guidance does suggest, however, that workers who are furloughed are unlikely to need to carry forward annual leave, as in most cases they will be able to take it during the furlough period.
Self-Isolating After Travelling Abroad
The most recent guidance is that individuals will be required to self-isolate for 14 days when returning from abroad or face a possible fine. This means that for a two-week holiday, workers may have to take four weeks off work, unless they can work from home. At present, there is no entitlement to statutory or contractual sick pay in this situation unless the worker is unwell.
If the individual cannot work from home, this quarantine period may therefore have to be taken as annual leave or unpaid leave. This is a difficult situation for workers who may not be covered by insurance if they now cancel their holiday and employers whose businesses are likely to be disrupted further by workers requiring additional days off work.
For more information on holiday entitlement and how we can help you, please contact our Employment Team on 0345 646 0406 or fill in our online enquiry form and a member of our Team will be in touch.