Annual leave

A. Your employer has no legal obligation to let you cancel your annual leave, unless you have an agreed workplace policy that requires them to do this. Under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR) employers have the right to determine the days on which their workers can and cannot take annual leave provided they give adequate notice.

Many employers provide more flexibility than the law, and unions commonly negotiate agreements more generous than this. Any agreed contractual provisions take priority over the rights contained in the WTR.

Even though your employer has the right to refuse to cancel your leave, it mustn’t act unfairly or in a discriminatory way, for example, by allowing only some individuals to cancel.

There may also be a legal argument based on case law that suggests the purpose of annual leave is to enjoy a period of relaxation and leisure. If you are unable to relax and benefit from the time off because of COVID-19, you could make a case that your employer should allow you to cancel.

Emergency legislation allows up to four weeks’ leave to be carried forward into the following two years where it has not been reasonably practicable to take it during the current leave year due to the effects of coronavirus.