Can I claim these holiday?

Miri5

I need some advice. I was off work sick for a year, I returned back to work in early August last year. I know legislation was brought in regarding this matter in 2015.

Statutory annual leave entitlement accrues during a period of certified sick leave.
An annual leave carryover period of 15 months after a leave year will apply to those employees who could not, due to illness, take annual leave during the relevant leave year or during the normal carryover period of 6 months.
On termination of employment, payment in lieu of untaken accrued annual leave will apply to leave which was untaken as a result of illness in circumstances where the employee leaves the employment within a period of 15 months following the end of the leave year during which the statutory leave entitlement accrued.

So my questions are:

Does this 15 months start from when I returned to work, meaning I have to have the days used up by early November?

Can my employer force me to take them all in one go?

Is it ok to bring this up with my employer now or should this have all been sorted when I returned to work? I only found out about it in the last few weeks.

GM228

Miri5 wrote: »

Does this 15 months start from when I returned to work, meaning I have to have the days used up by early November?

The 15 month period starts from the end of the leave year for which the leave should have been taken, not when you return.

Miri5 wrote: »

Can my employer force me to take them all in one go?

An employer can dictate when you take your leave (with 1 months notice), but they should take into consideration your need/s to reconcile future work and any family responsibilities.

Miri5

So if I finished work at the end of July 2015 and started back mid August 2016, is it from the end of 2016 the 15 months starts?

GM228

Miri5 wrote: »

So if I finished work at the end of July 2015 and started back mid August 2016, is it from the end of 2016 the 15 months starts?

No the 15 month limit starts the end of the 2015 leave year for 2015s unused days and the end of the 2016 leave year for 2016s unused days - your leave year in law is Apr-Mar even though most employers set it as Jan-Dec so this could cause issues for calculation of days, but it is generally accepted that Jan-Dec is the appropriate year.

The 15 month period applies to the amount of leave for each particular leave year, so you can accrue and retain annual leave for up to 15 months from the end of the leave year in which it was accrued only.

Miri5

Thank you 😊