June 3, 2020

furloughed employees use annual Leave

Employees or workers who have been placed on furlough continue to accrue statutory holiday entitlements, and any additional holiday provided for under their employment contract.

However, the Government’s guidance on whether employees can take annual leave while on furlough under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (‘CJRS’) is incomplete.

Employers can:

  • require workers to take holiday;
  • cancel a worker’s holiday, if they give enough notice to the worker.

The required notice periods are:

  • double the length of the holiday if the employer wishes to require a worker to take holiday on particular days;
  • the length of the planned holiday if the employer wishes to cancel a worker’s holiday or require the worker not to take holiday on particular dates.

Employers can ask workers to take or cancel holiday with less notice but need the workers’ agreement to do so.

These notice periods are in advance of the first day of the holiday, and the notice must be given before the notice period starts. For example, if an employer wanted to prevent a worker taking a week’s holiday, they would have to give notice earlier than 1 week before the first day of the holiday. For the purposes of calculating the notice period, any uninterrupted period of holiday counts as a single period. These rules on notice periods can be altered by a binding written agreement between the employer and the worker.

If you require any further advice over this or any other issues call us on 07375 097443 or e-mail lbjconsultants.co.uk

Ask Us Anything About HR, Employment Law or Health & Safety