REWARD
Annual leave request considerations
Danny Done, managing director of Portfolio Payroll, explores how employers canmanage annual leave, as foreign travel regains popularity following Covid-19
T he government recently announced that anyone who’s fully vaccinated is no longer required to take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for Covid-19 on return from travel abroad. This came into force in January 2022. Subsequently, foreign holidays are being booked at a rate not seen since before the pandemic started in March 2020. Although this provides a great boost to the struggling travel industry, the knock-on impacts for employers aren’t so welcomed. The changes come when many employers are struggling with widespread staff shortages, as well as the ongoing impacts of ‘The Great Resignation’ and employee burnout. As a result, businesses are unable to allow holidays without them having a serious impact on the business. What can employers do? Any decisions must be in line with the organisation’s holiday policy, and consistent with previous actions under that policy. Should there be issues with multiple staff members wanting the same time off, discussions should take place to see if a compromise can be reached, which allows as many as possible to take the leave they want, while keeping the organisation operational. Organisations could cap the number of people who can be off at the same time, ensuring there are always minimal staffing levels in place. Similarly, they can block annual leave bookings for peak times, when they know they’ll need as many people in as possible. For example, over Easter weekend, hospitality businesses can enforce a blanket rule to say all annual leave requests will be declined. Employers should still remember to be fair and reasonable and understand this may be an employee’s first chance of a foreign holiday since 2019. With careful planning, employers could allow at least some to go on their long-awaited holidays,
by arranging overtime, shift swaps and alternative working patterns.
introducing these rules doesn’t treat employees unfavourably, particularly those with underlying health issues. Employees who are medically exempt from getting the Covid-19 jab, or those with reasonable other grounds for not being vaccinated, may raise claims of discrimination if they are put at a detriment. A detriment in this situation includes loss of pay. Businesses wishing to adopt this approach must first consider the wider impact this may have on staff and implement adjustments where needed, to avoid any risk of claims.
What happens if employees return with Covid-19? Unfortunately, there’s a chance that holidaying employees may return with Covid-19, and subsequently need to take more time off work. In such cases, employers should first assess whether the individual is fit and practically able to work from home during this time. If not, subject to normal eligibility criteria, they will be entitled to statutory sick pay (SSP) for the period of sickness absence. Small and medium-sized enterprises could reclaim the cost of two weeks’ SSP per employee for Covid-related absences starting on or after 21 December 2021, up until 17 March 2022. This would be done through the government’s coronavirus SSP rebate scheme. The rebate scheme closed on 24 March 2022. Employers should remember that SSP rules revert back to the normal ones (i.e. pay from the fourth qualifying day of sickness), even for Covid-related absences, from 25 March 2022 onwards.
Along with the obvious employment law risks associated with the reduction of sick pay for unvaccinated staff, employers may also face the possibility of creating a two-tier workforce. This could have detrimental impacts on the continuation of positive employee relations, leading to unrest and workplace disputes. Such action could also result in reputational damage to the business. Additionally, it increases the risk of unvaccinated staff members attending work when they might have the virus, thus spreading Covid-19 to others in the workplace. This increases distrust amongst colleagues and, ultimately, could lead to higher levels of absence. n
Can employers reduce sick pay for unvaccinated staff? Organisations should ensure that
| Professional in Payroll, Pensions and Reward | April 2022 | Issue 79 24
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