Holiday and final pay · Great Britain
Can my employer make me take holiday during my notice period?
Your employer can generally require you to take annual leave during your notice period, whether you resigned or were made redundant. Under the default rule, the employer must give at least twice as much notice as the leave it requires. A relevant agreement can change the notice rules. For example, five days of required holiday generally need at least ten days’ notice.
Does garden leave count as annual leave?
On garden leave you remain employed until your employment ends, so you generally continue to build up annual leave. Garden leave does not automatically use up your holiday balance. Ask your employer to confirm in writing which dates it is designating as annual leave and when it gave you notice.
Statutory leave and contractual extras
Most workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of statutory annual leave, which is 28 days for someone working five days a week. Bank holidays can count towards those days. Your contract may give you more leave and set separate rules for the extra days. When employment ends, your employer must pay for accrued statutory leave that remains untaken.
Check how many days you have left to take and read the guide to redundancy notice periods to check which employment end date to use.