Know how much holiday to give your staff

Employees taking statutory maternity, adoption, paternity, parental leave, and parental bereavement leave will continue to accrue statutory paid holiday and, in many cases, any contractual holiday entitlement. If, by the end of the current holiday year, an employee has been prevented from taking part or all of their holiday leave entitlement due to being on one of these types of statutory leave, they have a right to carry over up to 5.6 weeks untaken statutory holiday leave into the new holiday year.

Holiday entitlement and maternity/adoption leave

Employees on maternity or adoption leave continue to accrue both statutory and any contractual paid holiday during both ordinary and additional maternity/adoption leave.

A statutory paid holiday cannot be taken at the same time as maternity/adoption leave. When you are planning for the maternity/adoption leave, you may wish to discuss taking any outstanding holiday and perhaps delay the start of their maternity/adoption leave.

Alternatively, it may be possible for them to take holiday at the end of the maternity/adoption leave period.

If a new holiday year starts, the employee is on maternity/adoption leave and holidays haven't been taken, the employee has a right to carry over up to 5.6 weeks untaken statutory holiday leave to the new holiday year.

When you are planning, you should both be aware that maternity and adoption leave cannot start later than the date of the child's birth or placement for adoption, so an early birth or placement could shorten the amount of annual leave the employee is able to take.

Read more on maternity leave and pay and adoption leave and pay.

Holiday entitlement and paternity leave

Employees continue to accrue their statutory and any contractual paid holiday entitlement while they are on statutory paternity leave.

Read more on paternity leave and pay.

Holiday entitlement and shared parental leave

Employees continue to accrue their statutory and any contractual paid holiday entitlement while they are on shared parental leave.

Read more on shared parental leave and pay.

Holiday entitlement and parental leave

Employees continue to accrue their statutory paid holiday entitlement while they are on parental leave. They will also continue to accrue contractual holiday entitlement if this is provided for in their contract of employment.

See parental leave and time off for dependants.

Holiday entitlement and parental bereavement leave

Employees continue to accrue their statutory paid holiday entitlement while they are on parental bereavement leave. They will also continue to accrue contractual holiday entitlement if this is provided for in their contract of employment.

See statutory parental bereavement leave.