Not being able to take annual leave can arise from several situations, including being too sick to take it. Can my employer force me to have 5 days holidays whilst on furlough when I’m in lockdown. I received a letter saying although i am furloughed i must still take this anual leave is this right? Aside from a corrosive effect on goodwill and team morale, legal challenges are likely to result. Camille is a Senior Marketing Executive for myhrtoolkit who writes on topics including HR technology, workplace culture, leave management, diversity, and mental health at work. They have decided to make us take a portion of our annual leave, equivalent to what we have accrued in this time, on days of their choosing during furlough. Is it actually legal? width : 400, Facing an annual leave backlog? I received a message today asking me to come into work on Thursday for some training even though I am furloughed and I then received a further message saying this current week commencing 25th of May must be taken as holiday and I will receive full pay for this week. If no agreement is reached, the employee must be paid their ordinary rate of pay during the shutdown. HR Business Partner Seems harsh after 38 years loyal service. Whether an employer can force you to take annual leave depends on a few factors. Employee Relations This article is prepared with the intention of providing general information on the changes in law. Learning & Development – Rafe, SA. Is the COVID-19 lockdown affecting your approach to holiday and absence management? In addition, there is no obligation on an employer to agree to holiday requests and it’s reasonable to refuse these where there are business needs to be met. HR (General) "Employers often place a cap on how many employees from each department are able to take annual leave at the same time to ensure service levels are maintained, with this being more important … The fundamental purpose of annual leave is a non-working period of rest and relaxation (rather than foreign travel). Together, this works out at 28 days for a full-time employee. I was furloughed but was paid in full £300 per week for a usually 25 hour week. Employers have an obligation to ensure that, as a minimum, employees take their WTD leave each year. I have bee’ furloghed since April . If the employee/worker has already agreed a period of annual leave with an employer (and now wishes to revoke this), they will need to get a written agreement from their employer. Talent Management If you require any assistance with annual leave, please telephone our employment law team on 01522 561020. latest news, feel-good stories, analysis and more, Man who crashed into police station ‘snapped over £10,000 Covid fine’, First UK patients to get Covid vaccine ‘by mid-December’, Eight babies ‘murdered’ when they were days old are named for first time, Two ‘acting suspiciously’ arrested on Pall Mall on suspicion of terrorism, Hospital worker sues over ‘stupid northerner’ and ‘silly white b**ch’ insults, ask its staff to take eight weeks unpaid leave over the next three months, If you’re not sick, now’s the time to reconnect with nature. This allows workers to carry over up to 4 weeks of annual leave into the next 2 annual leave years where it was not “reasonably practicable” to take this leave as a result of the effects of coronavirus. I also read that if bank holidays are part of your annual leave allowance, your pay should be topped up the extra 20% by your employer, along with the 80% from government – I have not had full pay for my bank holidays. Many thanks. Hi just wondering if you found any answers to this please as I was unfurloughed on the 18th of June with 17 holiday days to use before October but I got told yesterday I will only be getting paid 20% for these holidays even tho i’ve Been back at work 5 weeks nearly so technically aren’t furloughed anymore.