Why must employers ensure staff take time off?

Paid annual leave is a fundamental employment right in the UK, protected by the Working Time Regulations 1998.

What is your responsibility as an employer?

Workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday each year. Importantly, the law places responsibility on employers not only to acknowledge this entitlement, but also to promote its use. Simply making holiday available is not enough.

Employers must actively:

1. confirm a worker’s entitlement to annual leave
2. provide the opportunity for them to take it and encourage them to do so
3. warn them that unused leave (that can’t be carried forward) will be lost at year end.

If an employer fails to meet these obligations, the consequences can be significant. Regulation 13(17) requires that any untaken or unpaid leave must be carried forward into the next holiday year – potentially creating operational and financial headaches.

How to handle employee holiday

Beyond compliance, encouraging employees to step away from work is vital for maintaining a healthy, productive workforce. Tired, burnt-out staff are more likely to experience wellbeing issues – from reduced performance to increased sickness absence — ultimately costing employers far more than the time they spend away.

Therefore employers and HR managers should take practical steps to help staff take breaks:

• Have a clear, easily accessible holiday policy that explains rights and processes in straightforward language.
• Make booking time off simple, with user-friendly systems and minimal bureaucracy.
• Ensure adequate cover so staff don’t feel pressured to work while on holiday or worry  about work building up while they’re away.
• Send regular reminders, with remaining leave balances, encouraging employees to plan time off.
• Issue end-of-year warnings about outstanding leave, prompting staff to “use it or lose it”.
• Train managers. They must understand the rules and avoid refusing requests that leave employees unable to take their entitlement.

Proactively managing annual leave benefits both employees and the organisation. Workers return from breaks more engaged and productive, and employers reduce the risks associated with overwork and regulatory non-compliance. Ensuring that staff truly disconnect from work is not just a legal requirement – it is a key part of building a sustainable and supportive workplace culture.

Further reading

• The Working Time Regulations 1998 – Legislation.co.uk
• 5 holiday pay essentials in 2024 – Hunter Law
• When are holiday pay underpayments ‘unlawful deductions’? – Hunter Law
• Holiday pay and entitlement reforms from 1 January 2024 – GOV.UK

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