Coronavirus Employment Law
14th May 2020
Last updated: 16th October 2025 at 15:30pm
< 1 min read

Latest Furlough and Holiday Pay Guidance

Latest Furlough and Holiday Pay Guidance

The Government has clarified issues relating to furlough and holiday pay in guidance published yesterday (13 May) by the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy.

While it was confirmed last month that furloughed workers could take annual leave without breaking furlough, many questions remained regarding whether an employer could require staff to take holiday, and the status of temporary and agency staff was also still unclear.

“HR Heroes Performance and Capability”

“I enjoyed the session today by Robyn. There was lots of discussion generated and examples from practice. I really enjoyed the “All that we Share” video. This was thought provoking and will be useful to share with the team. I also liked the PIP section- would be good to have some more worked examples to refer to. ”

What is great about the new guidance is that it addresses the employers legal obligations, in terms of workers who:

One of the big benefits of this new guidance is that it clarified that employers can claim through the job retention scheme for furloughed workers even while they were taking holiday. But they are required to make the difference up if the employee is entitled to higher holiday pay than their furlough pay, it said.

This clarification is really helpful for employers and would allow them to ensure furloughed workers did not return to work with excessive amounts of annual leave.

As always it should be noted that the guidance does not constitute legal advice. Employers and workers should always check individual contracts and if necessary seek independent legal advice.

Access our full range of HR guides on the Coronavirus Support Hub 

If you have any immediate or urgent issues get in touch with us to discuss your options in these tough and uncertain times. 

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