Establish a policy on sickness occurring during or just before a period of holiday
Key points
There is some uncertainty over whether or not an employer must permit employees to retake any period of statutory holiday that coincides with sickness.
In respect of contractual holiday in excess of the statutory minimum coinciding with sickness, the employer may choose whether or not to grant alternative holiday.
In any event, employers should consider adopting a policy on how they will deal with sickness occurring during or just before a period of holiday, as this may prevent disputes at a later date.
The policy should, among other things, set out the extent to which an employee will be eligible to take replacement holiday at a later date and what, if any, conditions apply to the rescheduling of holiday in these circumstances.
