Annual Leave

[NGHFB71]

Are you required to take your leave entitlement or could you if you wanted to work week in week out over a 12 month period...

[Bazile]

I would have thought it depends on the policy of the company

[BlueScorpion]

I'm not sure whether there is any law saying you must take holiday, but I know that the Working Time Regulations state that a company cannot make payment in lieu of holiday unless the individual has left their employment

[Sipowicz]

You get 26 weeks annual leave?

[Buenchico]

An employee must be given the statutory minimum holidays and not, for example, simply be given extra pay in lieu of taking holidays (except at the end of his/her employment). The prohibition of such 'in lieu' arrangements is specifically referred to in Section 13 (9) (b) of the Working Time Regulations 1998.

All statutory holiday entitlement should normally be given, and taken, during the relevant employment year. However where, for example, illness prohibits an employee from taking statutory leave, that leave must be carried forward to the following year.

Further, since 1st October 2007, there has been limited provision for an employee to carry forward all or part of their statutory leave to the next year but such provisions only apply when a minimum of 20 days are to be carried forward (for a 5-day week worker).

[kjn2]

I asked that question when I was at work approx 3 years ago and was told it is a condition of the company that were responsible for the running of the pension fund that at least one holiday of ten working days was taken at one point during each year of employment. So suggest you check out the T and C of employment that you should have been given.

[factor-fiction]

Some companies also want to avoid having someone working extended periods without any days off because frauds can go undetected if someone is never off.

[Prudie]

I'd say the leave pattern entirely depends on what your company agrees you can do. I've certainly never heard of what Bluescorpion says - I'm in the civil service and employees (who have not left) often get paid for their untaken leave if they want - when illness or work commitments have prevented them taking their leave. I'm pretty sure the CS is not breaking the law.

[buildersmate]

What the WTD actually says on the matter is this.

You have to take at least four weeks of the statutory minimum holiday in the year it is awarded. Beyond that employers may allow employees to carry it into the next year, but they don't have to.
You can only be paid for your holiday not taken in excess of the statutory minimum of 28 days. The cynics will of course appreciate that civil servants get rather a lot of holiday especially those with long service. Unless you leave, when you can be paid for the outstanding.

[black_cat51]

surely the statutory minimum holdays is not 28 days?

[factor-fiction]

It is 28 when you include bank holidays

[black_cat51]

depending on the year ... and don't you mean "when you add bh" rather than include?

[factor-fiction]

I meant what I put.