Employer Holiday Policy - Template, Sample Form Online Pro · UK-law
✓ Valid in United Kingdom · drafted to comply with local law
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HOLIDAY POLICY
________
________
1. About this Policy
1.1 This document contains the policy of ________, a company registered in England and Wales under company registration number ________, whose registered office is at ________ (the Employer) in relation to holidays and annual leave.
1.2 This policy applies to all of our employees and workers (You). References to employment include any person employed as an employee under a contract of employment and any person engaged as a worker under a contract for work within the meaning of regulation 2 of the Working Time Regulations 1998. It does not apply to genuinely self-employed contractors.
1.3 This policy is intended to comply with the Working Time Regulations 1998, the Employment Rights Act 1996 and all other applicable legislation. Where this policy conflicts with your statutory rights, your statutory rights shall prevail.
1.4 Before implementing this policy, the Employer has consulted with the following trade union or employee representatives: ________.
1.5 This policy is a statement of policy only and does not form part of your contract of employment or contract for work. The Employer may amend, update or withdraw this policy from time to time. You will be notified in writing of any material changes.
1.6 This policy will be administered by, and any questions concerning it should be directed to, ________.
2. Holiday Entitlement
2.1 The Employer's holiday year runs from ________ in each year.
Categories of holiday entitlement
2.2 You are entitled to a total of 5.6 weeks of statutory paid holiday in each holiday year, in accordance with regulations 13 and 13A of the Working Time Regulations 1998, made up of:
(a) Paid statutory basic holiday – comprising 4 weeks' paid holiday (regulation 13); and
(b) Paid statutory additional holiday – comprising 1.6 weeks' paid holiday (regulation 13A).
2.3 The statutory minimum entitlement under regulation 13A is capped at 28 days per holiday year for a full-time employee.
2.4 You may also be entitled to contractual holiday in addition to your statutory entitlement, as set out in your contract of employment or contract for work. Your total annual holiday entitlement is ________ days (inclusive of statutory entitlement).
2.5 In each holiday year, your statutory basic holiday will be taken first, followed by your statutory additional holiday, and any contractual holiday entitlement will be taken last.
Bank holidays and public holidays
2.6 Bank and public holidays are treated as follows: ________. Where they are stated to be in addition to your statutory entitlement, you will take all bank and public holidays as paid leave in addition to your 5.6 weeks' holiday entitlement.
Carrying over holiday
2.7 Subject to the remainder of this policy and any contrary legal requirement, you must take all of your statutory and contractual holiday entitlement during the holiday year in which it accrues. Save as otherwise provided in sections 4 and 5 of this policy or as required by law, any untaken holiday entitlement will be lost at the end of the holiday year and you will not be entitled to any payment in lieu of it (except on termination, in accordance with section 6).
If you work part-time
2.8 If you work part-time you are entitled to statutory basic holiday and statutory additional holiday on a pro-rata basis, calculated by reference to the days or hours you work per week. By way of example, your annual entitlement can be calculated by multiplying the number of days you work per week by 5.6.
Your first year of employment or work
2.10 During the first year of your employment or engagement, holiday entitlement will accrue at the rate of one-twelfth of your annual entitlement on the first day of each month, rounded up to the nearest half day where necessary.
Calculating holiday pay
3. Requesting and Taking Holiday
Making a request
3.1 You should not make any travel bookings or incur any expense until you have received written notice that your holiday has been approved. The Employer will not be liable for any losses you incur should you make bookings prior to your holiday being authorised.
3.2 Holiday should be requested giving not less than ________ notice prior to your proposed holiday dates. If your holiday is for a particular reason, such as a religious observance or an important event, please make this clear in your request.
3.3 Holiday should be requested using the following system:
________
3.4 The Employer requests that you do not take more than ________ of your working weeks off consecutively, although the Employer may permit this in exceptional circumstances.
Approving your request
3.5 The Employer may, in accordance with regulation 15 of the Working Time Regulations 1998, refuse a holiday request or require you to take or not to take holiday on particular days by giving you appropriate notice. When considering your request, the Employer will take into account:
(a) staffing levels and available cover;
(b) the anticipated work schedule and other demands of your workload and the Employer's business generally; and
(c) the number of other requests received for that period (where it is not possible to grant each request, the Employer will generally give priority to those received first, taking into account any exceptional circumstances).
4. Sickness and Holiday Leave
Sickness or injury during holiday leave
4.1 If you become sick or injured whilst absent from work during a period of holiday leave, you may elect to treat the affected period as sick leave rather than holiday leave, so that the holiday may be reclaimed and taken at a later date. This is subject to the conditions in this section 4.
4.2 The following conditions apply:
(a) you must notify the Employer as soon as reasonably practicable once you become aware that you are sick or injured during a period of approved holiday;
(b) upon your return to work, you must provide written details confirming how much of the holiday leave was affected by sickness or injury;
(c) the period of sickness or injury must be supported by a fit note or certificate from a qualified medical practitioner, the reasonable cost of which the Employer will meet; and
(d) all of the above information should be reported or provided to: ________.
4.3 Please refer to the Employer's sickness absence policy for further details regarding sick leave, including information about sick pay.
Long-term sickness or injury
4.4 Your holiday entitlement continues to accrue during any period of sick leave. Where long-term sick leave prevents you from taking your accrued holiday, you will be permitted to carry over your four weeks' statutory basic holiday entitlement (regulation 13) to the following holiday year. Holiday carried over for this reason must be taken within 18 months of the end of the holiday year in which it accrued, failing which it will be lost.
5. Family Leave
5.1 Your holiday entitlement continues to accrue during any period of maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, parental or parental bereavement leave.
5.2 For any planned period of family leave likely to extend beyond the end of the holiday year, the Employer encourages you, wherever possible, to take your holiday entitlement before your period of family leave commences or immediately before you return to work.
5.3 Any holiday entitlement that cannot reasonably be taken in the holiday year because of a period of family leave may be carried over to the next holiday year. Holiday carried over for this reason should be taken within ________ of the start of the next holiday year.
6. Holiday and Termination of Employment
6.1 This section sets out how your holiday entitlement and any related payments will be dealt with when your employment or engagement comes to an end.
6.2 On termination, your statutory and contractual holiday entitlement will be calculated up to and including your last day of employment. The Employer may require you to take any accrued but untaken holiday during your notice period.
Payment in lieu of accrued holiday
6.3 You will receive a payment in lieu of any accrued but untaken statutory paid holiday entitlement on termination of your employment, calculated in accordance with regulation 14 of the Working Time Regulations 1998. Whether any payment is made in respect of accrued but untaken contractual holiday will be determined in accordance with your contract; subject to that contract, no payment in lieu of contractual holiday will be made.
6.4 Any payment in lieu will be calculated in accordance with all relevant statutory and contractual requirements.
Repayment of holiday entitlement
6.5 If, on termination, you have taken more holiday than you have accrued, the Employer will be entitled to deduct an appropriate amount in respect of the excess from any sums owing to you, and by agreeing to this policy and your contract you authorise such deduction in accordance with section 13 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. To the extent that any such overpayment is not recovered by deduction, you must repay it to the Employer.
7. Data Protection
7.1 The Employer will process any personal data collected in connection with the administration of holiday and leave in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. Any health information provided under section 4 will be treated as special category data and processed only to the extent necessary and permitted by law. Further information is set out in the Employer's privacy notice for staff.
8. Governing Law
8.1 This policy and any dispute arising out of or in connection with it shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the law of England and Wales, and the parties submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
Signed for and on behalf of the Employer:
Name: ________
Position: ________
Signature: ________
Date: ________
Fields you complete are inserted into the document live. This template is general guidance only — not legal advice.