{"id":12760,"date":"2025-07-10T16:52:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T16:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/?post_type=resources&p=12760"},"modified":"2025-10-20T13:20:46","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T13:20:46","slug":"some-annual-leave-myths-dispelled","status":"publish","type":"resources","link":"https:\/\/www.brightmine.com\/uk\/resources\/hr-compliance\/absence-management\/some-annual-leave-myths-dispelled\/","title":{"rendered":"Some annual leave myths dispelled"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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by Stephen Simpson<\/strong>, Brightmine Principal Editor – Employment Law and Compliance<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Do employees automatically have the right to carry over untaken annual leave into the following leave year? Is there a ban on rolled-up holiday pay? As we head into the summer holiday season in the UK, Stephen Simpson rounds up some common misconceptions around paid annual leave entitlement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myth 1: Employers must allow workers to cancel annual leave if holiday plans change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What are the employer’s options if a worker asks to cancel annual leave that they have already booked? For example, it could be that a worker cancels a trip to the US this summer in response to concerns over the political situation over there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employers do not have to agree to a worker’s request to cancel holiday already booked, unless the worker has the right to cancel annual leave under their contract of employment or another relevant agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In deciding whether to agree to a cancellation request, the employer can take account of the needs of the business, and the worker’s personal circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may be good workforce relations to be flexible with annual leave requests. Indeed, employers that are particularly busy over the summer may welcome annual leave cancellations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, some employers could benefit from refusing to cancel leave already booked, particularly if there is less work for the worker to do in the summer or they are concerned about a build-up of untaken annual leave later in the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myth 2: There is nothing a worker can do if they fall ill during or just before a period of holiday<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Case law has established that a worker who is sick or injured during a period of previously scheduled annual leave must be allowed to take that annual leave at another time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is because the two types of leave have different purposes. Annual leave is to allow the worker a period of rest, relaxation and leisure, while sickness absence is for the worker to recover from an illness or injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Employers should ensure that their sickness absence policy includes a strict process for a worker in this situation to switch from holiday to sickness absence and take their annual leave later. This could include requiring the worker to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n