WORKING TIME AMENDMENTS TO ALLOW HOLIDAY CARRYOVER AND THE RIGHT TO EMERGENCY VOLUNTEERING LEAVE (EVL)

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GOVERNMENT PASSES WORKING TIME AMENDMENTS TO ALLOW HOLIDAY CARRYOVER

The government passed the Working Time (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 on Friday 27 March 2020 to address the issue of carrying over holidays while employees are furloughed or otherwise unable to take holidays because of COVID-19.

Working Time Regulations have been amended to allow the carryover of statutory holiday entitlement where it was not “reasonably practicable” for the worker to take “some or all” of this leave because of the effects of the coronavirus. The effects can be on the worker, the employer or the wider economy or society.

Leave can be carried over for up to two leave years immediately following the leave year in which the holiday was due to be taken.

There is nothing in the regulations which restricts the carryover rights to key workers and they therefore apply to every sector.

An employer can only stipulate that the worker can’t take carried over holiday on particular days where they have “good reason” for doing so, this is unlike the general holiday provisions which allow employers considerable scope to say when holiday can and can’t be taken.
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DETAILS ON THE RIGHT TO EMERGENCY VOLUNTEERING LEAVE (EVL)

The government are expected to produce implementing regulations to bring the new right to Emergency Volunteering Leave (EVL) into force.

A worker is entitled to be absent from work for the period specified in an emergency volunteering certificate. The certificate is issued by an appropriate authority (such as a local authority or NHS Commissioning Board) which certifies that the worker has been approved as an emergency volunteer in health or social care.

The worker must provide their employer with a copy of the certificate and inform them in writing of their intention to be absent from work on leave for the period set out in the certificate. The period of absence must be a period of two, three or four consecutive weeks.

The Act gives protection against the employee suffering a detriment because they have taken EVL or because the employer believes they are likely to take it.

The right to Emergency Volunteering Leave will not apply where the worker is employed by a business which employs less than 10 people.

We don't know at the moment whether an employer will have any right to defer the leave, but it’s unlikely given the urgent need for volunteers to support the NHS and social care.

​We will keep you informed as more information is released.