Epwin Absence line: 0300 303 3984

Managing annual leave

Obtaining approval

All annual holiday must receive management approval before being taken. Each business will have a set procedure, below is some requirements to follow.

All requests for annual holiday should be made in writing on the appropriate form (Holiday Request Form), at the earliest reasonable opportunity. This should be passed to the employee’s immediate Manager. The Manager will consider the application having regard to the needs of the department / Business and the rules on annual holiday set out below.

Once approval for holiday has been given, it will not normally be withdrawn. Where possible, the business will give notice of cancellation of an annual leave request.

However, there may be occasions when the business needs of the organisations prohibit the possibility of any notice being given and, in those circumstances, the Group reserves the right to withdraw such approval subject to the provisions of the Working Time Regulations 1998.

Every effort will be made to minimise any inconvenience or hardship. Manager will be informed of any change to current annual leave policy / procedures.

Entitlement

Annual holiday entitlement will be stated in the contract of employment. Holiday will begin to accrue on day one of employment and cease to accrue on termination by either party.

Note different business of the Group may have different leave rules.

  • The Company holiday year runs from 1 January to 31 December.
  • Subject to statutory exceptions any holiday not taken in a holiday year will be lost.
  • Untaken holiday cannot be carried over into the following year, and no payment will be made for unused holiday. Any holiday taken but not accrued (overbooked holiday) will be deducted from either an employee’s final pay or their last pay in a year, whichever takes precedence.
  • New employees will initially receive pro-rata entitlement if they join the Company part way through the holiday year. Details of the accrual are specified in the contract of employment.
  • In the event that employees within the same department have conflicting holiday requirements, approval of holiday request forms will normally be given on a first come, first served basis but it is at the discretion of the manager.
  • Any employee taking annual holiday which has not been previously approved will be subject to disciplinary action, which may include dismissal.
  • For the first eight weeks of a continuous sickness absence, holiday will accrue at the employee’s contractual rate. Accrual beyond this period will be in accordance with statutory provisions.
  • The Company reserves the right to operate annual shutdowns to meet business needs. All employees will be required to save holidays to cover shutdown periods; details will be provided by the Company. If an employee has accrued insufficient holiday entitlement for a shutdown period, the shortfall will be unpaid. Wherever possible, the dates of Company shutdowns and statutory holidays will be published in advance on notice boards.

Where this is not possible, the Company will endeavour to provide as much notice as possible of such shutdowns.

  • Those employees who work fewer days/hours than the normal pattern for their particular section/department will be awarded pro-rata holiday as a proportion of the normal entitlement in accordance with the regulations governing the employment of part-time workers.
  • Any contractual reduction or increase in working hour during the course of employment will lead to a pro-rota reduction or increase in holiday entitlement.

Payment for holidays

Payment for holidays will be at the normal rate for the hours normally worked on the day of the holiday.

There will be no payment for any untaken accrued holiday except upon termination of employment.

Payment for holidays must be authorised by a senior manager.

New employees

Every effort will be made to meet the needs of new employees in respect of commitments to holidays already made. New employees should inform the Company of any holiday plans prior to the commencement of employment.

Illness during holiday

An illness during a period of annual holiday may be classed as sickness absence and qualify for any statutory sick pay entitlement. Employees must satisfy the Company that the sickness was genuine and must provide a doctor’s medical certificate and/or other relevant supporting evidence.

Employees must also contact the Epwin Absence line on – 0300 303 3984

Late return

If employees know that they will be late returning from holiday, they must contact the Company and notify of their late return and the reasons as soon as possible. Failure to do so will render the employee liable to disciplinary action for unauthorised absence.

Employees must also contact the Epwin Absence line on 0300 303 3984

Religious holidays

Employees who wish to observe religious holidays which do not coincide with UK Public Holidays set by the government are required to use their normal annual holiday entitlement.

Service Days

Increased annual holiday entitlement will be stated in the contract of employment. The holiday will be applied to the employee’s total annual leave for the year when the milestones are achieved.

Who Off System

Some business uses the “Who’ off system” to book and record annual leave. Your IT team will advise on access and how to use the system. Note: HR do not support this system.