Annual holiday entitlements and furlough/sick leave

chuckie-egg

Hi after some advice
I was off sick from my work from May 2020 - Dec 2020. In that time I received CSP and SSP but received 2 months without no pay. In Dec 2020 I was due back but due to treatment I received in September I was added to the shielding list so was furloughed on full pay from Dec 2020 to March 2021.
I had accrued 5.6 weeks of holiday whilst off sick and I had 2 weeks carried over from March 2020 that I didn't take due to covid. My employer has now said all annual leave was deemed as taken during the furlough period. So I was furloughed for 13 weeks but 7 weeks of that was taken as holiday.
Can my employer do this?

General_Grant

chuckie-egg said:

Hi after some advice
I was off sick from my work from May 2020 - Dec 2020. In that time I received CSP and SSP but received 2 months without no pay. In Dec 2020 I was due back but due to treatment I received in September I was added to the shielding list so was furloughed on full pay from Dec 2020 to March 2021.
I had accrued 5.6 weeks of holiday whilst off sick and I had 2 weeks carried over from March 2020 that I didn't take due to covid. My employer has now said all annual leave was deemed as taken during the furlough period. So I was furloughed for 13 weeks but 7 weeks of that was taken as holiday.
Can my employer do this?

They should have given you advance notice that holiday would be taken during furloughed absence and they should have paid you (full pay) for that time when normal furlough pay could have been 80%. 
You indicate you have been paid at your full rate for more than 7 weeks (December to March) which you could look at as being your paid holiday and generous full pay for even more weeks.  Your employer seems to have paid you more than they had to.

chuckie-egg

General_Grant said:

chuckie-egg said:

Hi after some advice
I was off sick from my work from May 2020 - Dec 2020. In that time I received CSP and SSP but received 2 months without no pay. In Dec 2020 I was due back but due to treatment I received in September I was added to the shielding list so was furloughed on full pay from Dec 2020 to March 2021.
I had accrued 5.6 weeks of holiday whilst off sick and I had 2 weeks carried over from March 2020 that I didn't take due to covid. My employer has now said all annual leave was deemed as taken during the furlough period. So I was furloughed for 13 weeks but 7 weeks of that was taken as holiday.
Can my employer do this?

They should have given you advance notice that holiday would be taken during furloughed absence and they should have paid you (full pay) for that time when normal furlough pay could have been 80%. 
You indicate you have been paid at your full rate for more than 7 weeks (December to March) which you could look at as being your paid holiday and generous full pay for even more weeks.  Your employer seems to have paid you more than they had to.

I agree they have been generous by paying more than they needed too. It's just annoying that some of my holiday could have been used whilst I was off sick as I had 2 months without pay. I also have more treatment to follow so would have been good to use some holiday for that but will now need to take it unpaid.

General_Grant

chuckie-egg said:

General_Grant said:

chuckie-egg said:

Hi after some advice
I was off sick from my work from May 2020 - Dec 2020. In that time I received CSP and SSP but received 2 months without no pay. In Dec 2020 I was due back but due to treatment I received in September I was added to the shielding list so was furloughed on full pay from Dec 2020 to March 2021.
I had accrued 5.6 weeks of holiday whilst off sick and I had 2 weeks carried over from March 2020 that I didn't take due to covid. My employer has now said all annual leave was deemed as taken during the furlough period. So I was furloughed for 13 weeks but 7 weeks of that was taken as holiday.
Can my employer do this?

They should have given you advance notice that holiday would be taken during furloughed absence and they should have paid you (full pay) for that time when normal furlough pay could have been 80%. 
You indicate you have been paid at your full rate for more than 7 weeks (December to March) which you could look at as being your paid holiday and generous full pay for even more weeks.  Your employer seems to have paid you more than they had to.

I agree they have been generous by paying more than they needed too. It's just annoying that some of my holiday could have been used whilst I was off sick as I had 2 months without pay. I also have more treatment to follow so would have been good to use some holiday for that but will now need to take it unpaid.

When your sick pay ended you could have asked for holiday - but your employer need not have agreed to it.

Undervalued

chuckie-egg said:

General_Grant said:

chuckie-egg said:

Hi after some advice
I was off sick from my work from May 2020 - Dec 2020. In that time I received CSP and SSP but received 2 months without no pay. In Dec 2020 I was due back but due to treatment I received in September I was added to the shielding list so was furloughed on full pay from Dec 2020 to March 2021.
I had accrued 5.6 weeks of holiday whilst off sick and I had 2 weeks carried over from March 2020 that I didn't take due to covid. My employer has now said all annual leave was deemed as taken during the furlough period. So I was furloughed for 13 weeks but 7 weeks of that was taken as holiday.
Can my employer do this?

They should have given you advance notice that holiday would be taken during furloughed absence and they should have paid you (full pay) for that time when normal furlough pay could have been 80%. 
You indicate you have been paid at your full rate for more than 7 weeks (December to March) which you could look at as being your paid holiday and generous full pay for even more weeks.  Your employer seems to have paid you more than they had to.

I agree they have been generous by paying more than they needed too. It's just annoying that some of my holiday could have been used whilst I was off sick as I had 2 months without pay. I also have more treatment to follow so would have been good to use some holiday for that but will now need to take it unpaid.

Only if your employer agreed.

Although it is quite common in cases of long term sickness to allow employees to use holiday for some of the time on no pay, the employer is not obliged to agree. If they don't agree then the holiday remains for the employee to take in the normal way after they have returned to work from sick leave.

In normal times you cannot lose accrued statutory holiday as a result of being off sick but it is up to the employer when you can take it. If you get any additional holiday, over and above the statutory 28 days, you might lose the additional days depending on your company's rules.