Can my employer cancel my booked holiday? Your rights
Staffing shortages do not cancel your rights. Check the notice and your contract, protect the days you are owed, and know when to challenge the decision.
Hours & leave
Working time, breaks, holiday, family leave and flexible working.
46 guides
Working at Christmas: bank holidays, pay and refusing shifts
A Christmas shift is not automatically a day off or double pay. Check your contract, protect your holiday balance and know when refusing puts your job at risk.
Can I take time off for dependants in a family emergency?
Emergency leave lets employees deal with a dependant's crisis, but the statutory right is unpaid. Here is what qualifies and what to tell work.
What break do I get on an 8-hour shift?
Your break is a right, not a favour. Check what you are owed, record a missed rest today and act before the claim deadline.
Can AI approve leave requests?
Your employer still owes you paid holiday when an app runs the rota. Here is how to challenge a refusal, check the notice and get a person to look again.
Can I take time off to volunteer? UK rules explained
Your employee volunteering policy sets the rules for charity days off. Check pay, approval and whether the promise is contractual before committing a shift.
Phased retirement: can you reduce your hours?
Phased retirement means working less before you stop altogether. Here is how to ask for fewer hours, check the money and protect your right to choose when you leave.
Time off for cosmetic surgery: your rights
There is no separate cosmetic-surgery leave right. Recovery that makes you unfit for your job can qualify for sick pay, or you can ask to use paid holiday.
Unlimited annual leave: what are the rules?
"Unlimited" is only worth what you can actually take. Your employer still owes you statutory paid leave, whatever the handbook calls it.
Do long hours harm your health? UK hours limits explained
Long hours can damage your health. Your employer must address the risks. Here is how to check your rota, protect your rest and challenge unsafe hours.
Who approves leave at work? UK rules explained
Your contract names who signs leave off. The law sets the notice both sides must give, and stops your employer wiping the entitlement.
Four-day working week: what changes in law?
A free Friday can mean longer days, lower pay or fewer hours on full salary. Your contract decides which. We explain the rights that apply before you agree.