Falling ill on holiday

Under “Retained EU law”, a worker who falls ill either during the four weeks’ statutory holiday derived from the WTD, or before starting a pre-booked statutory holiday, must be allowed to reschedule that holiday to a later date, if necessary, in the next leave year. An employer can refuse particular holiday dates, but must allow leave to be carried forward into the next holiday year if the worker’s request cannot be met (Pereda v Madrid Movilidad SA [2009] IRLR 959).

Employers can set different rules for sickness that extends beyond the four weeks’ holiday derived from the WTD.

If an employer refuses to pay for statutory holidays, a worker can bring an ET claim. The first step is to submit an Acas Early Conciliation (EC) Notification Form, available from the Acas website. See Chapter 14 for more information.