With the summer holidays beginning, employers can expect the next few months to be filled with annual leave requests from their employees. It is therefore important for employers to refresh their understanding regarding the annual leave entitlements afforded to their employees.

The Working Time Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016 set out the minimum annual leave entitlement for employees. This entitlement is available to all workers above school leaving age – those on temporary or permanent contracts, those employed on a full-time or part-time basis and extends to those who are agency workers. These workers have the minimum entitlement to 5.6 weeks’ paid leave each year which is capped at 28 days for an employee who works five day a week.

Given that this is a minimum statutory entitlement, employers can choose to offer more as part of an employee’s terms of employment. However, an employer is not allowed to offer less than the statutory minimum. An employee has no right to additional holiday, even if unpaid, unless their terms of employment provide for such.

Employees should ensure that enough notice is given to their employers when requesting annual leave. The notice period must be twice as long as the period of leave requested and, equally, the employer can refuse an annual leave request by giving notice at least as long as the leave requested by the employee.

Legal Island Training Resources for Your Staff

HR Toolkit | eLearning Course

Are you responsible for overseeing the implementation of training for all employees in your organisation? Legal Island has created an HR Toolkit that aims to provide comprehensive training to assist HR professionals in supporting line managers and employees throughout the employee journey. The suite of courses will offer practical advice to assist you in updating your processes and procedures and help you understand your legal obligations. Click here to view our HR toolkit.