Sick during annual leave: UK employer rules for reclaiming holiday

Yes. GOV.UK says that if an employee is ill just before or during their holiday, they can take it as sick leave instead. The days of sickness stop counting as annual leave, and the holiday goes back into their balance to take at another time.

The right is not automatic. Acas says the worker must report their sickness to the employer if they want any holiday to count as sick leave. Someone who stays quiet during the holiday and mentions a cold weeks later has not followed that step, so set out in your absence policy how and when sickness on holiday must be reported.

Treat it like any other sickness absence. Ask the employee to contact their manager on the first day of illness, using the same reporting route as a normal working day, and to say which booked days they want to count as sick leave.

The usual evidence rules apply. An employee does not need to give a fit note or other proof for sickness of seven days or less, and can self-certify on return. You can ask for a fit note once they have been ill for more than seven days in a row. If your policy asks for anything more, apply it in the same way to everyone.

Once the days are sick leave, sick pay applies to them, not holiday pay. An eligible employee receives Statutory Sick Pay of up to £123.25 a week for 2026/27, for up to 28 weeks, or company sick pay if your contract offers more. Holiday pay is paid later, when the restored days are actually taken.

This can leave the employee with less money for that week if they have no company sick pay. Some people therefore prefer to keep the days as holiday. Acas advises that the employer and worker discuss whether the time counts as sickness or holiday and which pay applies, and put any agreement in writing.

No. GOV.UK says employers cannot force employees to take annual leave when they are eligible for sick leave, and Acas says the same. The choice sits with the employee.

An employee can ask to take paid holiday while off sick, for example because company sick pay has run out and holiday pay is higher. If you agree, the sick leave pauses during the holiday and they receive holiday pay for those days.

Statutory holiday keeps building up while an employee is off sick, however long the absence lasts. Any statutory holiday that cannot be taken because of illness can be carried over into the next leave year.

Acas says a worker on long-term sick leave can carry over a maximum of four weeks' holiday, which must be used within 18 months of the end of the leave year in which it was built up, unless the employer allows more. Holiday you give above the statutory minimum follows your contract, so say in writing what happens to it.

A short clause avoids most disputes. It should explain the reporting route, the evidence you will ask for, which pay applies to the converted days and how the restored holiday is rebooked. Managers should change the record promptly so the employee's remaining balance is correct.

Keep sickness on holiday visible in the sickness record. Leaving it booked as holiday hides the absence, while recording it twice overstates both the sickness record and the holiday used.