Employee's right to annual leave is challengeable

Some would say that most recent “annual leave” cases seem to favour employees. Though the employee in Lyons v Mitie Security Limited won his appeal, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) helpfully concluded that an employee’s statutory right to annual leave is not unchallengeable.

Under the terms of his contract of employment, Mr Lyons had to give four weeks notice to take a holiday. Any holiday request received with shorter notice would be considered in line with the employer’s staffing requirements. Mr Lyons’ contract also stated that holiday entitlement not used in the relevant holiday year would be lost and not carried over.

Mr Lyons had 9 days holiday to take near the end of his holiday year. He did not give his employer four weeks notice and lost his holiday entitlement in that holiday year. As a result, Mr Lyons resigned and claimed constructive dismissal.

The EAT concluded that an employee’s entitlement to minimum paid holiday leave can be subject to fairly operated statutory or contractual notice requirements of an employer. It also confirmed that employers must not operate conditions of entitlement to holidays in an unreasonable, arbitrary or capricious way so as to deny any holiday entitlement requested.

What this means is that employees who have a number of holidays left at the end of the holiday year may lose them if they do not comply with fair and reasonable notice provisions or conditions of entitlement set by their employers.