Home / Keeping the workplace merry: handling holiday requests
27th November 2025
James Cairns, Solicitor
As many businesses approach the end of their holiday year, now is the time to make sure employees are using their entitlement, and to understand when leave can (and can’t) be carried over.
Yes. Employers can serve a counter-notice, provided it is given at least as many days before the date on which the leave is due to start as the number of days being refused. A clear, consistently applied holiday-request process is essential, particularly where multiple employees are trying to book leave before year-end.
Yes. Employers may give notice ordering a worker to take leave, but such notice must be given at least twice as many days in advance of the start of the holiday as the number of days or part-day holiday the worker is required to take. This is often used to manage year-end entitlement and avoid large carry-over issues. This notice need not be in writing but is advisable to do so.
Employers may refuse requests to maintain staffing levels. A fair system, commonly “first come, first served”, helps ensure consistent decision-making. There’s no legal requirement to prioritise parents or particular groups.
Employees can choose to take holiday while off sick. If they fall ill during statutory holiday, the affected portion may be rescheduled.
Employees must receive their ‘normal pay’. For those with variable hours or pay, this generally means averaging the previous 52 weeks’ remuneration. This can be complex, so advice should be taken where work patterns vary significantly.
Irregular hours workers and part-year workers accrue holiday at 12.07% of the hours worked in each pay period (i.e. weekly or monthly). Holiday pay must include payments linked to the contract such as commission, payments relating to length of service, seniority or professional qualifications and other payments, such as overtime payments, if an employee has regularly been paid these during the year.
Employers may also use rolled-up holiday pay (spread over the year) instead of paying when the holiday is taken, calculated at the rate of 12.07% of the worker’s total pay in a pay period, and must be paid at the same time they pay for the work the worker has done in that pay period, and shown as a separate payment on the worker’s payslip.
As a general rule, statutory holiday may only be taken in the leave year to which it relates and will be lost if not taken by the end of the leave year. However, it may be carried over where the worker has been unable to take some or all of it as a result of taking a period of sick leave, maternity leave, or other family-related statutory leave. It may also be carried over in situations where the employer has either denied the employee a right to paid leave, failed to ensure that they have a reasonable opportunity to take it, or failed to inform them of the consequences of not taking it.
Where carry-over is permitted, employers should record it clearly and ensure it is used within the appropriate period.
If you would like advice on how to handle holiday requests, please contact our team at 0161 832 3434 or email info@kuits.com.