Holiday entitlement when an employee is off sick

Annual leave and sickness absence

The issue of annual leave can be tricky for employers to navigate but when someone goes off sick it can become even more difficult to manage.

Annual leave accrual

An employee’s holiday entitlement does not alter just because they are off sick, nor should the position change if they request any annual leave whilst off sick.

When an employee is off work with sickness or injury, even if their sickness period is for 4 weeks or more, thereby being classed as long-term sick, the holiday accrual will still be in effect.

For employees that work varying hours, part-time or have seasonal jobs, the annual leave entitlement although calculated differently, still accrues whilst off sick.

Provided the annual leave it is taken within 18 months from the date it is carried over, holiday accrued on long-term sick should be able to be carried over to the next holiday year. This would be an option if they have not been able to use it due to their condition or if they do not have enough of the current holiday year left when they return to work.

Taking holiday whilst off sick

Annual leave can still be taken whilst off sick if the employee chooses to do so and the employer agrees. In some circumstances, this may be financially beneficial to the employee if they are receiving statutory sick pay only.

The decision to request annual leave whilst off sick is for the employee alone to make and it would have the effect of pausing the sick leave and enabling holiday pay for the duration of the annual leave. If they are still unable to return to work after the annual leave, then the sick leave would resume.

If you are unfortunately sick whilst on holiday

Whilst on annual leave if the employee becomes sick, should they wish to take sick leave to preserve their holiday allowance, they must inform their employer as soon as they become unwell and quite often employers will require proof of sickness in the way of a doctor’s note or letter.

A consistent and fair approach.

It is important in both scenarios of sick leave and annual leave overlapping that there is clear communication, in writing between the employer and employee as to their intentions of how the leave should be managed.

Some employment contracts may stipulate details of holiday and sickness entitlements, or the company may have a specific policy. In either case this guidance should be followed and applied fairly and consistently amongst all employees.