Managing Holiday Requests: How to Handle Employee Non-Compliance with Holiday Procedures

What do you do when an employee fails to comply with the holiday procedure?

As the UK enters what are deemed to be our ‘summer months’, the sun blessing us with its often-retiring presence and with the majority the working population still pouring behind a computer screen indoors, the desire for some time off to enjoy the outside could be at its peak.

Statutory requirements for holiday entitlement

Employers usually have policies around holiday and with the increased realisation of the positive effects on employees’ wellbeing and productivity, booking and taking annual leave is now positively encouraged.

The statutory holiday entitlement in the UK for a full-time worker (working 5 days a week) is currently 28 days, equating to 5.6 weeks. For those working part time, the allowance is calculated by multiplying the number of days worked per week, by 5.6. The holiday allowance may however be more than this, depending on the employment contract.

Rules about holiday

The Working Time Regulations set out the rules and procedures for the leave year, taking of leave and cancellation or refusal of leave.

Some of these rules can however be varied by way of term in the employment contract or a policy set out in writing.

The rules that can be varied are: 

1. Contractual Enhancement

Employers can offer more than 5.6 weeks of leave (but not less). Any extra time off becomes  contractual and can be governed by separate rules.

2. Setting the Holiday Year

Employers can define when the holiday year begins and ends (e.g., 1 January to 31 December), as long as it’s clearly stated in the employment contract or handbook.

3.Holiday Booking Procedures

Employers can set procedures for requesting leave (e.g., minimum notice periods, black-out dates.

4. Carry Over Rules

Employers can allow more generous carry-over of unused holiday than the statutory minimum. Statutory rules allow:

• 4 weeks (EU leave): usually must be used in the leave year unless prevented (e.g., sickness, maternity).
• 1.6 weeks (UK leave): can be carried over for up to 1 year if allowed by the contract.

5. Payment in Lieu

Only allowed on termination of employment. You cannot pay employees instead of allowing them to take statutory leave during employment, unless they are an irregular hours worker or part year worker and you pay rolled up holiday pay.

Use it or lose it and the holiday year

The holiday entitlement is to be used unless otherwise stipulated in the employment contract, within the ‘leave year’, to ensure workers are getting a good work-life balance. The holiday year may be defined in the contract or policy, otherwise (in the absence of a set policy or contract term) the Working Time Regulations stipulates that the holiday  year for each individual employee starts and runs from the date the employment commenced.

Giving notice to take holiday

Employers can stipulate the minimum notice period required from an employee to take holiday and most employers do so to allow for planning and optimum schedule management.

Employers often also state that there are times of the year when leave cannot be taken, such as busy seasonal times,  and that employees cannot take time off at the same time as colleagues or a minimum number of employees must be at work at one time to manage workloads.

Refusal of leave

If the employer wishes to refuse an employee’s request for leave because it is contrary to the rules set out in the holiday policy or employee contract then they should notify the employee as soon as possible that they cannot accommodate the request and  provide a clear reason, ideally verbally to the employee and then followed up in writing.

Employers should note that refusal of annual leave requests can negatively affect the working relationship if not executed appropriately. Even if there is good cause for the refusal and sufficient notice and communication has been provided, the employee may still feel aggrieved by the decision.

Employee states they will take the leave any way

If the employee states that they are taking the time anyway and there is no compromise then the employer can, depending on the employee’s attitude and behaviour, instigate disciplinary proceedings to address the employee’s conduct.

Careful consideration should be given to this as it may further impact employee relations, but if the behaviour is sufficiently serious or insubordinate then it may be prudent to go through the process and reach a conclusion on the outcome.

Consequences of taking unauthorised leave

If despite the refusal and discussions the employee takes the leave requested without approval then the employer can treat it as an unauthorised absence, and on their return to work, the employer can follow the disciplinary procedure. The outcome of which will likely depend on the severity of detriment caused to the business due to the absence. There may also be consideration of previous warnings, conduct issues and/or attitude of the employee.

If the detriment caused was related to the reasoning for refusal or cancellation, the employee would have likely had reasonable awareness of the effect their absence would have, before taking the leave and this may impact on the severity of the sanction applied.

Get advice before taking action

If you would like advice or support in regard to this type or situation or are unsure how to proceed, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01983 897003.