Furloughed and Holiday entitlement

magicman62

Last year I was furloughed for about 12 weeks, a few weeks ago I had a letter from work about accrued holidays , not that I understood it. Yesterday when I checked my remaining holiday , as i had saved some days to help my daughter move house  as I am the only person allowed (as we are now in tier 4 ) and found that 3.5 days had been removed or in my case 14 hrs as i work part time 20 hrs a week. I  have looked on the Gov web site an dseen something which seems to contradict my companies actions as they said i an not accrue holiday whilst furloughed or had to use it whilst furloughed ...my question ...do i still accrue holiday whilst furloughed , and if i do can they say i took it whilst furloughed even when i didnt want to ...Thanks ...Happy New year all

Grumpy_chap

The strict rules are that you continued to accrue annual leave while on furlough.
That is actually quite unfair on the employer.

It is your choice whether to enforce your entitlement to annual leave or be pragmatic and let it go.

Jeremy535897

You can be required by your employer to take holiday while on furlough, although they will normally top up your wage to 100%. they should give notice equal to twice the length of the holiday, unless your employment contract says otherwise. If they don't, the remedy is going to an employment tribunal, so unrealistic. What an employer cannot do is furlough you when they are not adversely affected by coronavirus (for example an employer that shuts for a week at Christmas every year cannot decide to furlough staff for that week rather than pay them out of its own pocket).

adamp87

Grumpy_chap said:

The strict rules are that you continued to accrue annual leave while on furlough.
That is actually quite unfair on the employer.

It is your choice whether to enforce your entitlement to annual leave or be pragmatic and let it go.

I know what you are saying but it doesn’t mean OP’s rights just get thrown out the window. The company could have used the furlough to pay these holidays during closures & top up the 20% to get rid of them...

Grumpy_chap

Jeremy535897 said:

You can be required by your employer to take holiday while on furlough, although they will normally top up your wage to 100%. they should give notice equal to twice the length of the holiday, unless your employment contract says otherwise. 

I understand that holiday had to be paid with the top up to 100%.
The OP has not said whether their furlough was topped up to 100% anyway?  I assume not in this case.

adamp87 said:

it doesn’t mean OP’s rights just get thrown out the window. 

You are totally correct.

However, I do feel some sympathy for employers on this.  The staff had 12 weeks off, that period still cost the employer something, yet the employer gained no benefit, revenue, profit from the employee.  That the employee accrued annual leave during the period the company was closed may be enough to push some businesses from staying open to closed for good.  If that is the case, then the OP may be sensible to take the hit on annual leave and keep a job in the business that survives.

Michael_Bear

@magicman62 Yes you are entitled to holiday.
Obviously (which I'm sure you were) approach it tactfully but it is your right to have it (if it wasn't formally taken during furlough at 100%).

sheramber

 few weeks ago I had a letter from work about accrued holidays , not that I understood it
What exactly the letter said may be relevant

Jeremy535897

Grumpy_chap said:

Jeremy535897 said:

You can be required by your employer to take holiday while on furlough, although they will normally top up your wage to 100%. they should give notice equal to twice the length of the holiday, unless your employment contract says otherwise. 

I understand that holiday had to be paid with the top up to 100%.
The OP has not said whether their furlough was topped up to 100% anyway?  I assume not in this case.

adamp87 said:

it doesn’t mean OP’s rights just get thrown out the window. 

You are totally correct.

However, I do feel some sympathy for employers on this.  The staff had 12 weeks off, that period still cost the employer something, yet the employer gained no benefit, revenue, profit from the employee.  That the employee accrued annual leave during the period the company was closed may be enough to push some businesses from staying open to closed for good.  If that is the case, then the OP may be sensible to take the hit on annual leave and keep a job in the business that survives.

There are a lot of technical issues surrounding the topping up of holiday pay to 100%, but employers do normally do this. I wouldn't like to fight the issue in an employment tribunal though.