Government announces plans to allow workers to carry over annual leave

The Government has announced a new amendment to the Working Time Regulations.  The Working Time (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 will allow workers to carry over up to four weeks annual leave into the next two annual leave years.

The aim is to provide employers with flexibility that are under pressure from the impact of Covoid-19 and to ensure that worker’s rights to paid annual leave are protected as a health and safety measure.

Such annual leave can be carried over into the next two annual leave years where it is not reasonably practicable for workers to take some or all of their annual leave due to Coronavirus.

In the UK the minimum full-time rate of annual leave is 5.6 weeks, and these provisions will only allow workers to carry over 4 weeks annual leave.   It will be up to employers and workers to carry over the balance of 1.6 weeks for up to a year by way of mutual agreement which is what UK law currently provides for.