The correct answer is C.

Government guidance specifies that furloughed employees continue to accrue holiday in the usual way during furlough and that they cannot be deprived of the minimum statutory entitlement to 5.6 weeks’ annual leave per year under the Working Time Directive. However, employers can potentially agree to a variation in any additional contractual entitlements. One way to do this might be to provide in employees’ furlough letters that the number of days of additional contractual holiday the employee accrues over the year will be reduced in proportion to the amount of time they spend on furlough leave. Bear in mind though that restricting benefits during furlough leave is unlikely to be well received by employees and the more severe the restriction, the more likely it is that employees could refuse to agree to the proposed changes. Also, if you have employees working part-time on flexible furlough, it may seem unfair to suspend their accrual of contractual holiday.

The correct answer is B.

Government guidance confirms that an employee can take holiday while on furlough and that, if they do, the employer should pay their usual holiday pay in accordance with the Working Time Regulations (the WTR). This means that holiday pay must be paid at the employee’s normal rate of pay (rather than at the reduced furlough rate of pay). However, if an employee has variable pay arrangements and they have spent time on furlough, it’s likely that their holiday pay rate won’t ‘match’ their normal take home pay. This is because holiday pay for employees with variable pay is calculated on the basis of average pay over the previous 52 week reference period. Receiving the reduced furlough rate of pay during the reference period will affect holiday pay calculations for these workers.

The correct answer is C.

If a furloughed employee would have usually worked the bank holiday, according to Government guidance, they will remain on furlough and in receipt of furlough pay for the bank holiday as if it were any other normal working day. Conversely, if the employee usually takes bank holidays as leave, the guidance provides that the employer will either have to top up their furlough pay to provide a day’s holiday pay or give the employee a day of holiday in lieu. There is some ambiguity over whether the employer and employee must specifically ‘agree’ to taking a bank holiday as holiday during furlough. However, if furlough letters provide that all contract terms (other than changes in respect of pay) continue to apply, existing bank holiday provisions in employees’ contracts of employment should be sufficient evidence of an ‘agreement’ for bank holidays to be taken as leave.

The correct answer is A.

Employers can require furloughed employees to take specified days as annual leave while they are on furlough, provided that the employer pays holiday at the appropriate rate and gives the correct notice in accordance with the Working Time Regulations. ACAS and Government guidance does, however, recommend that employers should engage with staff and explain the reasons for wanting them to take leave (and look for alternatives) before forcing them to do so. Employers are also advised to consider whether an individual employee is under any restrictions (e.g. self-isolation or social distancing) which would actually prevent them from resting, relaxing and enjoying leisure time - the fundamental purpose of holiday. In addition, it’s sensible, in terms of employee relations, to not require employees to take a disproportionate amount of annual leave while on furlough.

The correct answer is C.

Although Government guidance does anticipate that employees may take holiday whilst on furlough, it goes on to warn that employees “should not be placed on furlough for a period simply because they are on holiday for that period.” This appears to stop employers from using the furlough scheme grant where they do not otherwise need it but instead to subsidise the cost of employees’ holiday pay now that there is no minimum furlough period. Arguably, this is an abuse of the furlough scheme – placing employees who are working normally on furlough during a planned shutdown for which the employees would have been required to take holiday in any event. This situation is different from one where, prior to shutdown, employees were not working and they remain fully furloughed before and after shutdown due to a lack of work caused by Covid-19. Continuing to claim the furlough grant during shutdown in those circumstances would not seem abusive as the employer is not placing employees on furlough “simply” to cover their shutdown holiday. (Remember that the employer would, however, have to top up employees’ furlough pay to holiday pay levels during shutdown.)

The correct answer is B.

On 8 June, a 14 day self-isolation period (the quarantine period) was introduced for passengers arriving in the UK from overseas, with limited exceptions. Subsequently, the Government introduced a list of ‘travel corridor’ countries, whose Covid-19 risk level is considered to be lower. Travellers returning from these countries on or after 10 July are exempt from the self-isolation ‘quarantine’ requirement, unless they have travelled in or through any non-exempt country in the past 14 days. If an individual has been in a non-exempt country within the past 14 days but then returns to England from an exempt travel corridor country, this can reduce the amount of time the individual is required to self-isolate.

In Holly’s example, she spends one day in Serbia (a non-exempt country). She then returns to Croatia, which is currently a travel corridor country. From the day after she arrives back in Croatia, Holly spends the remaining four days of her holiday in the same place. When she travels back to England Holly will need to self-isolate for 10 days – not the usual 14 days of quarantine because she has already spent four of the 14 days in Croatia, an exempt travel corridor country.

The correct answer is C.

Periods of self-isolation during quarantine on entry to the UK following overseas travel will not trigger any entitlement to SSP, according to Government guidance, provided that the individual is not self-isolating for any other reason (e.g. because they have Covid-19 symptoms or have been contacted by the NHS Test and Trace service). Since SSP is not payable, there appears to be good justification for also not paying company sick pay to Holly during quarantine either. One option would be for Holly to book extra holiday to cover the time off. If she does not have enough holiday to cover the quarantine period, she could be asked to take unpaid leave instead. In future, the company may want to make changes to its travel policy and quarantine provisions to provide that if an employee has not received written approval (prior to overseas travel) that they can be absent for the quarantine period, the company can treat the absence as unauthorised and take disciplinary action.