It's September, school's resumed and the weather is cooling down, which means one thing: it's time to book your next holiday.
But what if you don't have enough time to use up your remaining allowance?
It's a question many workers will be asking themselves in the run up to the end of the year - but does the 'use it or lose it' rule actually stand up legally?
"Although staff typically use the summer months to take the majority of their annual leave, there may be employees who still have a considerable amount of annual leave remaining as we head into autumn," said employment expert Alan Price.
This especially applies to those whose annual leave runs from January to December, who, right now, may be panicking about what will happen to their outstanding leave.
Do I have a legal right to carry it over?
"Some staff may be under the impression they can carry over any unused annual leave into the next year of annual leave.
"However, unfortunately, this is not the case and employers can determine the extent to which individuals can carry over any unused annual leave entitlement," Price adds.
Many organisations will only allow it in exceptional circumstances - and this ‘use it or lose it’ approach will be outlined in your contract.
In other words, it's at your manager's discretion or company policy.
"Their decision may vary depending on the size of the organisation and smaller employers may struggle to accommodate this," Price goes on to explain.
"The prospect of extended time off in the next leave year could leave them short-staffed and unable to meet customer demand.
"That said, certain employers may be inclined to show a degree of flexibility when it comes to carrying over a small amount of annual leave, especially if staff plan to use them soon after the start of the next year of annual leave."
This may be five days, which you may have to use within a set period, ie by the end of the first quarter of the new year.
The workers that ARE legally protected
There are some workers that are protected from this - regardless of where they work.
"The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that employees should be entitled to carry forward holidays to the next annual leave year if they have been unable to take them due to sickness," Price explains," Price said.
"However, this will only apply to the first four weeks of an employee’s 5.6 weeks’ statutory leave entitlement, as this is the minimum amount stated under the European Working Time Directive."
