On 27 March 2020 the government announced it will be relaxing the rules on carrying over annual leave to support key industries during Coronavirus.
Workers who have not taken all of their statutory annual leave entitlement due to coronavirus will now be able to carry it over into the next 2 leave years. Measures will ensure that workers won’t lose their leave entitlements.
The Working Time (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations will allow up to 4 weeks of unused leave to be carried into the next 2 leave years, easing the requirements on business to ensure that workers take statutory amount of annual leave in any one year.
This will apply where it is not reasonably practicable for a worker to take some, or all, of the holiday to which they are entitled due to the coronavirus. They have a right to carry the 4 weeks under regulation 13 into the next 2 leave years. This will not apply to the 1.6 weeks under regulation 13A leave, but this can be carried forward one year by agreement between workers and employers.
This will mean staff can continue working in the national effort against the coronavirus without losing out on annual leave entitlement.
The changes will also ensure all employers affected by coronavirus have the flexibility to allow workers to carry over leave at a time when granting annual leave could leave them short-staffed in some of Britain’s key industries, such as food and healthcare.