Did COVID change holiday and working hours rules?

Your boss cannot use COVID as a reason to withhold today’s holiday or work you through every break. The temporary pandemic schemes have closed, but paid leave and rest were never optional. If you are chasing old holiday pay or are off sick with COVID now, the rule that matters is the one in force today.

What ended and what remains

Furlough, special holiday carryover and COVID sick pay measures were temporary. They are not benefits you can apply for now. The holiday expiry dates below apply to England, Wales and Scotland. Northern Ireland has separate legislation.

COVID did not increase the ordinary annual leave entitlement or abolish working-time protections. The Working Time Regulations 1998 still underpin those rights in Great Britain. Later changes to flexible working, irregular-hours holiday and sick pay are separate reforms, not extensions of the emergency schemes.

Your holiday rights now

Workers, including employees, agency staff and people on zero-hours contracts, have statutory paid holiday. You start building it up when you start work. For a full leave year, someone working five equal days a week gets 28 days. Someone working three equal days gets 5.6 × 3 = 16.8 days. The statutory cap is 28 days even if you work six days a week. Your contract can give you more, and bank holidays can count towards the minimum.

Workers have holiday and ordinary working-time rights; the statutory flexible-working request is an employee right. Genuine self-employment brings neither entitlement. Agency staff build statutory holiday from day one. After the 12-week qualifying period, equal treatment can also give access to the hirer’s more generous holiday terms. Contract labels do not settle status. See employment status and agency worker rights.

For GB regular-hours, full-year workers, four weeks must be paid at your normal rate, including task-linked commission, relevant status payments and regularly paid overtime. The extra 1.6 weeks can use the basic rate. Your employer can pay all leave at the normal rate. The government’s holiday guidance explains the distinction.

How carryover works today

Normally you take holiday in the leave year. In Great Britain, these are the main reasons untaken statutory leave can carry forward:

• If statutory family leave prevents you taking holiday, you can carry the untaken entitlement, up to the full 5.6 weeks, into the following leave year.
• If sickness prevents a regular-hours, full-year worker taking holiday, up to four weeks can carry over. You must use it within 18 months of the end of the leave year in which it accrued. Irregular-hours and part-year workers can carry their full statutory entitlement in these circumstances, with the same 18-month limit.
• A written relevant agreement can allow the additional 1.6 weeks to carry over. Contractual leave above the statutory minimum follows the contract’s rules.
• If your employer does not recognise your right to paid leave, give you a reasonable opportunity and encouragement to take it, or warn you that untaken leave will be lost, carryover protection can apply. For regular-hours workers it covers the four-week entitlement. For irregular-hours and part-year workers it covers the full statutory entitlement.

That last protection matters when a manager repeatedly says the rota is too short-staffed for anyone to take leave. A blanket “use it or lose it” policy does not wipe out the employer’s own duties. See the government’s carryover guidance. Holiday also continues to accrue during sickness and statutory family leave. Payment instead of taking statutory leave is generally only allowed when your job ends, under Regulation 14.

Irregular hours and part-year work

For GB leave years beginning on or after 1 April 2024, irregular-hours and part-year workers accrue statutory leave at 12.07% of actual hours worked per pay period. Fractions below 30 minutes round down; 30 minutes or more round up to the next hour. The 28-day cap remains. These categories depend on your contract and working pattern. Fixed rotating shifts are not automatically irregular hours.

Your employer can pay when you take leave or use rolled-up holiday pay for these categories. Rolled-up pay must be an extra 12.07% of total pay, separately itemised. You still get time off. Without rolled-up pay, the usual calculation uses the previous 52 paid weeks, or a shorter period where necessary. Special calculations preserve accrual and pay during sickness and statutory family leave. See government guidance and our holiday pay guide.

Can your boss dictate the dates?

Yes, but your boss cannot deny leave altogether. Under the default GB rules in Regulation 15, notice requiring leave uses twice the number of leave days; refusal or cancellation uses the number of leave days. Notice must arrive before the relevant date. For five days’ leave, refusal must arrive before the date five calendar days before it starts; compulsory leave requires notice before the date ten calendar days before it starts. A relevant agreement can vary these rules.

Furlough and old pandemic leave: what you can still do

Holiday continued to accrue during furlough. Taking holiday also required the normal holiday pay, not simply the reduced furlough amount. The employer had to make up any difference.

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is closed. You cannot reopen it to recover wages. Nor did COVID-carried leave automatically turn into a permanent bank of days after March 2024.

If a supermarket, kitchen or care home repeatedly blocked paid leave, keep the refusals and your leave records. Employer-failure carryover or a holiday-pay claim may be relevant, but old claims face limitation problems. The 2026 extension to tribunal deadlines does not give every pandemic dispute a fresh start. Ask an adviser to distinguish unpaid holiday, untaken leave and missing final pay before you assume the money is either recoverable or lost.

Sick pay if you are off now, including with COVID

COVID is now dealt with under ordinary sickness rules. The special COVID SSP provisions and employer rebate schemes ended in 2022. England’s Test and Trace Support Payment is also closed. Being told to stay away from work is not, by itself, proof that you qualify for sick pay.

From 6 April 2026, SSP is £123.25 a week or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower, for up to 28 weeks. The earnings floor and three waiting days have gone. Eligible employees can receive it from the first full qualifying day of sickness. Your employer may owe more under a contractual sick-pay scheme.

SSP uses its own eligibility rules. You must have done some work for the employer and be ill for at least one full working day. GOV.UK says agency workers may qualify, so do not accept “you are only agency” as a complete answer. Having worker status for holiday purposes does not automatically settle SSP status. Genuine self-employment does not bring SSP, but Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance may be available. Tell your employer promptly and follow its sickness-reporting procedure. A fit note is normally needed after more than seven consecutive days off, including non-working days.

If your employer refuses SSP or pays too little, ask it to explain the decision and calculation. GOV.UK directs unresolved SSP disputes to HMRC. That is a different route from a holiday-pay tribunal claim.

Hours, rest and flexible working

For most adult workers, the weekly limit is an average of 48 hours, normally over 17 weeks, across your jobs. You can opt out in writing and later withdraw the opt-out. Your employer cannot punish you for refusing to sign. A warehouse shift followed by a cleaning job still counts towards your total. See GOV.UK’s working-hours guidance.

The usual adult minimums are an uninterrupted 20-minute break when you work more than six hours, 11 hours’ daily rest, and 24 hours’ weekly rest or 48 hours in a fortnight. An opt-out from the weekly limit does not remove rest rights. Some jobs and shift patterns have exceptions and compensatory-rest rules, so care, security and transport staff should check the specific position. Young workers and night workers have additional protections. See GOV.UK on rest breaks and our rest-break guide.

In Great Britain, employees have had a day-one statutory right to request flexible working since 6 April 2024. You can make two requests in 12 months. The employer must consult before refusing and decide within two months, unless you agree an extension. The right covers changes to hours, days or workplace. A carer can ask for consistent start times; a kitchen porter can ask for shifts that fit childcare. It is a right to request, not automatic approval, and the eight statutory business grounds for refusal remain. The Acas Code explains the process.

What to do today

You do not need to write like a lawyer. You need the hours, the pay, the dates and a copy you can still access if your shifts stop.

1. Save the evidence. Keep rotas, payslips, leave balances, your contract and refusals. Record the underpayment date separately from when you noticed it.
2. Ask for correction in writing. For example, “You say you use rolled-up holiday pay, but my payslip shows no separate uplift. Please explain the calculation and pay any shortfall.” If you are paid when taking leave, query that payment instead.
3. Get support. Ask your rep or union legal service. UNISON covers many care and NHS support jobs, Usdaw retail, GMB and Unite many warehouse and hospitality roles, and IWGB some delivery and gig work. Acas, Citizens Advice and law centres also advise. In NI, use the Labour Relations Agency or Advice NI.
4. Use the right enforcement route. The Fair Work Agency was established on 7 April 2026, but that does not establish which holiday-pay powers are operational. Ask Acas about reporting. Use the relevant government service for minimum-wage or agency complaints, and HSE or the local-authority safety regulator for safety concerns. Reporting does not preserve a tribunal claim.
5. Protect the deadline. Normally notify Acas before your GB claim limit expires. Grievances and negotiations do not stop the clock. Timely notification pauses it for early conciliation; check the final filing date with an adviser.

Which tribunal deadline applies?

Acas confirms a date-based transition. For most problems before 1 October 2026, the usual limit remains three months less one day. For most problems on or after that date, it is six months less one day. The start date depends on the claim. For underpaid wages it is normally the date you were paid incorrectly. Multiple deductions and older holiday disputes need individual advice.

Scottish employment tribunal breach-of-contract claims keep the three-month-minus-one-day limit for breaches before 9 November 2026. The six-month-minus-one-day limit applies to breaches on or after that date. The GB extension does not establish a Northern Ireland tribunal deadline. Get local advice rather than using the GB dates.

What changes next

The Employment Rights Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 18 December 2025. It does not bring every promised right into force at once. The government timetable updated on 25 September 2026 separates changes already in force from future measures. Future dates remain subject to parliamentary processes.

As at 1 October 2026, ordinary unfair-dismissal protection in Great Britain generally still requires two years’ service. Discrimination and many automatically unfair dismissal claims do not need that qualifying period. Do not confuse the six-month service requirement scheduled for 2027 with the six-month tribunal time limit introduced this year.

1. 1 Jan 2027, scheduledUnfair dismissal and fire-and-rehire reforms

   The timetable schedules a six-month unfair-dismissal service threshold for dismissals from this date, uncapped compensatory awards and fire-and-rehire protections.

2. During 2027, scheduledGuaranteed hours and shift protections

   Guaranteed hours, reasonable shift notice, short-notice payments and further flexible-working reforms are planned. Detailed shift-reform timings await consultation.

Questions people ask

Can you still use COVID-carried holiday?

Not under the expired GB exception. Separate sickness, family-leave or employer-failure protection may apply. Seek local advice on an old Northern Ireland balance.

Did holiday build up on furlough?

Yes. Holiday taken also required normal holiday pay. Old underpayments need advice on limitation, not an application to the closed furlough scheme.

Does zero-hours work mean no holiday?

No. Worker status brings paid leave. The GB calculation for irregular-hours workers is normally 12.07% per pay period; the contract label alone does not decide it.

Can holiday pay be inside the hourly rate?

Lawful GB rolled-up pay is extra and separately itemised. It is only available for irregular-hours and part-year workers. You still get time off.

Can your boss cancel booked leave?

The default notice depends on the leave days cancelled. Relevant agreements can vary it. Repeated cancellations cannot lawfully deny your entitlement altogether.

Does COVID qualify for sick pay now?

Ordinary SSP applies if you qualify. Being asked to isolate is not enough by itself. For ongoing symptoms, see our Long COVID guide.

Sources

1. Working Time Regulations 1998, including Regulation 14 and Regulation 15, legislation.gov.uk
2. Working Time Coronavirus Amendment Regulations 2020, revoked, legislation.gov.uk
3. Employment Rights Amendment, Revocation and Transitional Provision Regulations 2023, legislation.gov.uk
4. Holiday pay and entitlement reforms from 1 January 2024, Department for Business and Trade. Covers accrual, rounding, carryover and pay methods
5. Holiday entitlement, GOV.UK
6. Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, GOV.UK
7. Statutory Sick Pay Coronavirus Amendment Regulations 2022, legislation.gov.uk
8. Test and Trace Support Payment guidance, withdrawn, GOV.UK
9. SSP amounts and SSP eligibility, GOV.UK
10. Maximum weekly working hours and Rest breaks at work, GOV.UK
11. Code of Practice on flexible-working requests, Acas
12. Employment tribunal time limits, Acas, updated 1 October 2026. Includes transition rules and worked deadline examples
13. Employment Rights Act 2025, legislation.gov.uk
14. Plan to Make Work Pay and Employment Rights Act timeline update, government timetable, updated 25 September 2026
15. Workers cheated out of £2bn holiday pay, TUC, September 2024. Source for the holiday reality check
16. Reform roadmap, GOV.UK. Source for the estimate of up to 1.3 million workers excluded from SSP by the former earnings floor
17. Holiday entitlements, Flexible working and Statutory Sick Pay, nidirect