Hi Elma
I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but the Working Time (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 amend the Working Time Regulations 1998 "to create a further exemption relating specifically to COVID-19. Where it is not reasonably practicable for a worker to take some, or all, of the holiday to which they are entitled due to the coronavirus, they have a right to carry the 4 weeks under regulation 13 into the next 2 leave years. This will not apply to the 1.6 weeks under regulation 13A leave, but this can be carried forward one year by agreement between workers and employers".

This will therefore mean that the business wont have too many people off at one time which could have a negative impact on the business.

Apologies if I misunderstood what you were asking and already knew about this.

Lisa

In reply to Lisa:

Thanks Lisa, I see the UK have put this in place but nothing similar in Ireland that I'm aware of.

In reply to Elma:

We have a policy where we require people to take 1/5 of their annual leave each quarter. People working from home need breaks as well where they can turn everything off and step away. Not enforcing some leave isnt (IMO) healthy as well as storing up a longer term problem later.

In reply to Lisa:

I was reading about this on Xpert HR and from the information they put together, it seemed to suggest that employees not using their annual leave because their holiday was cancelled would not be an acceptable reason for them to carry it over, because, although the holiday was cancelled, it was still "reasonably practicable" for them to take the annual leave.

But if the employer was not allowing holiday (for example if the employer was a supermarket) during the coronavirus then that would be an acceptable reason to carry the holiday over.