Companies in the south are being urged to review their employment policies as a recent court decision is set to affect the way in which holiday procedures are operated within businesses in the future.

Moore Blatch partner and employment expert Katherine Maxwell says that employers will need to put in place policies that allow employees to postpone holiday where they have been sick and unable to take their holiday as planned: “Whilst many employers accept that there are times when employees are sick and unable to take their agreed holiday, many remain concerned that any new procedure may be open to abuse,” she said. 

Employers are advised to allow staff to carry forward holiday into the following leave year, where there is insufficient time for staff to use postponed holiday during the same holiday year. Katherine continues: “All employers will be affected by these changes which are likely to bring about different challenges within their business. To safeguard against any misuse, employers will need to ensure that their policies and procedures are up to date. Any employee who wishes to re-classify holiday as sick leave should go through a reporting procedure, providing confirmation that they were unfit for work.”

The recent case prompting the change involved an employee of a travel company who had taken three months leave due to a broken ankle. During this time he had already booked a four week holiday and wanted to reclaim the holiday and re-schedule this for later in the year. “The tribunal held that the employee was entitled to the holiday which he had been previously prevented from taking due to ill health and could do so at a subsequent time in the following year’s leave,” Katherine concluded.

Whilst the most recent case was only a decision at tribunal level and is not binding on other employment tribunals, it provides a good indication of how issues such as this are likely to be dealt with in the future.

5 March 2010