Yes, you can take your holiday as Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) if you are ill, but there are a few important rules. If you become ill before or during your scheduled holiday, you may be able to reclassify that holiday time as statutory sick pay instead of annual leave. This allows you to save your holiday days and use them later when you are well enough to enjoy them.
Deciding Whether to Take Sick Leave or Holiday
To begin with, it’s important to consider if your illness will have a significant impact on your activities when on holiday. If you have a cold and it won’t affect your holiday much, you might choose to keep this as holiday leave rather than report the absence as sick leave and claim statutory sick pay (SSP).
You should also think about whether you will receive less money if you take your time off as sick leave. If you don’t get full pay or have already used up your statutory sick pay (SSP) allowance, you may prefer to take it as holiday instead
Informing Your Employer
If you decide to change your holiday leave to sickness leave, you should follow your employer’s normal rules for sickness and then ask them to record your absence as sick leave rather than annual holiday leave. To begin with, it’s important to consider if your illness will have a significant impact on your activities when on holiday. If you have a cold and it won’t affect your holiday much, you might choose to keep this as holiday leave rather than report the absence as sick leave and claim statutory sick pay (SSP).
You should also think about whether you will receive less money if you take your time off as sick leave. If you don’t get full pay or have already used up your statutory sick pay (SSP) allowance, you may prefer to take it as holiday instead.
Carrying Over Holiday Leave if You Are Sick
Usually, you will need to use your holiday leave in the year it relates to. However, in some cases you can carry some of your holiday leave over to the following year.
This applies if you were sick and unable to take your holiday. In this scenario, you can carry up to four weeks of holiday over to the following holiday year. During a period of sickness absence, you may also be entitled to statutory sick pay (SSP) if you meet the eligibility requirements. If you are able to return to work in the following year, you should then take this holiday leave. If you are still off on sick leave at the end of this second year, you can carry it over for another six months. After these 18 months, if you are not back to work and able to take your holiday leave, you will lose it.
If you would like to discuss any points in this article further, either as an employer or as an employee, please contact Spire Solicitors LLP on 01603 677077.
Can I Take My Holiday Leave as Sick Leave if I Am Ill?
If you are ill while you are on annual leave or before you are due to go on leave, you can ask your employer for it to be taken as sick leave instead. This allows you to save your holiday entitlement for when you are well enough to enjoy it. However, you may wish to consider how much your annual entitlement to leave is, as this may affect your decision.
