Request a callback

If you want to discuss a particular service or need help, call us on 02476 231000.

Covid-19 – Important Annual Leave Changes

Annual leave changes

This article briefly covers the new rules relating to annual leave as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. It is important for all businesses to be aware of the changes in order to ensure ongoing legislative compliance.

 

In order to provide employees and businesses with the flexibility required to manage their annual leave during Covid-19, the government passed The Working Time (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020. The purpose behind the legislation is to enable workers to carry forward their statutory entitlement in circumstances where it had not been/is not ‘reasonably practicable’ to use the leave in the year to which the entitlement relates.

 

The government has issued guidance outlining factors that employers ought to consider when determining whether or not it was/is ‘reasonably practicable’ for a worker to have taken/take leave during the pandemic. The guidance states that employers should give consideration to the following factors:

 

  • whether the business has faced a significant increase in demand due to coronavirus that would reasonably require the worker to continue to be at work and cannot be met through alternative practical measures;
  • the extent to which the business’ workforce is disrupted by the coronavirus and the practical options available to the business to provide temporary cover of essential activities;
  • the health of the worker and how soon they need to take a period of rest and relaxation;
  • the length of time remaining in the worker’s leave year, to enable the worker to take holiday at a later date within the leave year;
  • the extent to which the worker taking leave would impact on wider society’s response to, and recovery from, the coronavirus situation; and
  • the ability of the remainder of the available workforce to provide cover for the worker going on leave.

 

The new rules entitle workers who have not used all of their statutory entitlement by reason of the pandemic to carry their respective leave forward into the following 2 years’ leave. Two particularly noteworthy points are that:

(a)    The new rules apply to workers (almost all), agency workers, those on zero-hour contracts and those whose hours of work are irregular; and

(b)   Up to 4 weeks of unused leave can be carried into the next 2 years’ leave.

 

The government guidance states that employers should do everything reasonably practicable so that workers can take as much leave as possible in the relevant year but the changes are advantageous to businesses in that they provide a significant level of flexibility whilst protecting workers’ rights to paid holiday. In the volatile world of employment law, it’s imperative for businesses to ensure that they remain on top of the changes and continue to operate in accordance with the rules in force from time to time.

Should you require advice in respect of the changes, please enquire about our AskHR service through which employers can receive advice from qualified solicitors on a range of every day employment law queries. Further and free of charge, Askews are pleased to be able to offer access to their HR portal, HR Genie. This is an innovative digital software which provides an employee database at the touch of a button, enabling businesses and employees to access and manage their personnel files with ease, to include a record of holiday entitlement.

Please contact Lianne Payne, Head of Employment and Senior Associate Solicitor, via email at Lianne@askewslegal.co or via telephone on 02476 935891.