Can an Employer Refuse an Annual Leave Request?

Employees have a legal right to paid annual leave, but that does not mean they have an automatic right to take their holiday on any dates they choose.

An employer can refuse an annual leave request where there is a genuine business reason for doing so. This might be because too many people are already off, there would not be enough cover, or the requested dates fall during an especially busy period.

However, refusing a particular set of dates is different from preventing an employee from taking their annual leave altogether.

Can You Say No to an Employee's Holiday Request?

Employers can refuse an annual leave request where there is a good business reason for doing so. ACAS advises that employers should deal with holiday requests fairly and consistently, including where a request needs to be refused or cancelled. Reasons for refusing a request might include:

• too many employees already being on leave

• insufficient staffing or management cover

• an important deadline or busy trading period

• operational requirements that mean the employee is needed at work

• the employee not following the organisation's holiday booking procedure

The reason should be genuine and consistent with the way other requests are handled. Simply not liking the dates an employee has chosen would not be a sensible approach.

Does an Employee Have a Right to Take Holiday Whenever They Want?

Having a legal right to paid annual leave does not give an employee complete freedom to decide when they will take it.

Most workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid annual leave each year, but employers can control when leave is taken. This can include restricting leave at certain times and requiring employees to take holiday on particular dates, subject to the relevant notice requirements.

This is why having a clear annual leave policy is useful. Employees should know how far in advance they need to request leave, whether there are limits on how many people can be off at once and whether there are periods when taking leave may be more difficult.

Can You Refuse Annual Leave Because Too Many People Are Already Off?

Where too many employees are already on leave, maintaining sufficient cover can be a genuine reason to refuse another request.

This often becomes an issue around Christmas, school holidays and other popular periods. If several employees want the same dates, the employer may simply not be able to approve every request.

What matters is having a fair way of deciding between competing requests. Some employers use first come, first served, while others use a rotation for very popular periods or consider how leave has been allocated in previous years.

There is no requirement to use one particular system, but managers should avoid making arbitrary decisions or consistently favouring the same employees.

Can You Refuse Holiday During a Busy Period?

Employers can restrict when annual leave is taken, which may include periods when the business is especially busy or when particular levels of staffing are needed.

If there are known periods when approving leave will be difficult, it is better to communicate this in advance rather than waiting until employees submit requests.

A blanket ban should still be considered carefully. The longer or more restrictive it is, the harder it may become for employees to use their annual leave elsewhere in the leave year.

Can an Employer Keep Refusing Annual Leave?

Although employers can refuse particular dates, they cannot prevent a worker from taking their statutory annual leave altogether. Employers have a responsibility to make sure workers have the opportunity to take the holiday they are entitled to.

If an employee has had several requests refused, it is sensible to discuss when their leave could be accommodated rather than simply continuing to reject requests.

Employers should also keep an eye on outstanding balances throughout the year. Waiting until the final few weeks of the leave year to discover that several employees still have significant amounts of holiday remaining can create an avoidable staffing problem.

How Much Notice Does an Employer Need to Give When Refusing Holiday?

There are statutory notice rules unless a different arrangement has been agreed, such as through the employment contract. Statutory rules are that an employer refusing or cancelling leave must generally give notice equivalent to the length of the leave requested, plus one day.

Employers should also check their own annual leave policy and contracts, as these may set different notice arrangements.

Even where the required notice can be given, cancelling holiday that has already been approved should not be treated lightly. ACAS recommends having a good business reason and considering the impact on the employee, especially where they have already paid for a holiday.

Do You Have to Approve Holiday Because an Employee Has Already Booked a Trip?

Booking a trip before annual leave has been approved does not turn the request into approved leave or mean that the employer has to agree to the dates.

Employees should normally wait for approval before committing to travel or accommodation. Managers should still consider the request reasonably, though. If the leave can be accommodated, refusing it simply because the employee booked before receiving approval is unlikely to help the working relationship.

The position is different where leave has already been approved and the employer later wants to cancel it. There may be significant practical and financial consequences for the employee, so cancelling approved leave should normally be reserved for situations where there is a genuine need.

Should Annual Leave Requests Be First Come, First Served?

First come, first served can be a simple way of managing annual leave requests, but it does not have to be the approach an employer uses and it is not automatically the fairest option in every workplace. It can mean the same people secure popular dates each year simply because they are able to request them earlier.

For periods such as Christmas, employers might instead set a deadline for requests and then consider them together, or use a fair rotation where demand regularly exceeds the amount of leave that can be accommodated. Whatever approach is used, employees should understand how decisions will be made.

What Should Employers Do When Refusing an Annual Leave Request?

A refusal does not need to become a complicated HR process. The manager should explain why the requested dates cannot be accommodated and, where possible, discuss alternative dates.

Consistency matters too. If one employee's request is refused because the team needs a minimum level of cover, managers should be able to explain why another employee in a comparable position was treated differently.

The aim should not be to make annual leave difficult to take. It is to balance an employee's right to take their holiday with the organisation's need to keep the business running.

Need HR Support?

Annual leave can become difficult to manage when several employees want the same dates or managers are unsure whether they can refuse a request.

BloomHR can help small businesses put clear annual leave policies and processes in place and provide practical HR advice when individual holiday issues arise. Contact us for more information.