Illegal to force staff to take holiday without adequate notice

With the National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan reaching Stage 3 over last week, this has resulted in all non-essential businesses being closed during a two-week curfew, which is set to run to April 15 in the first instance. As employers across the globe feel the pinch of the contraction of the economies, bosses at home are searching for ways to ease their burdens.

One of the tactics being used has been to get employees to take holiday, and during a recent edition of Down to Brass Tacks, Attorney General Dale Marshall notified the public that although it would be a good way to mediate the situation, it was against the law to force staff to take their holiday without a two-week notice.

“Under the order, businesses must be closed. So if you are closed, you are closed. But at the same time, I think that we have to operate in a give-and-take situation. I will be the first person to say that the Holidays with Pay Act stipulates that you cannot compel a person to take holiday unless you give them 14 days notice. So anybody who compels an employee to take holiday because their business is closed, they could not have given them the 14 days
notice because the Prime Minister only announced the curfew on Thursday. So it is a breach of the law,” he stressed.

He did go on to say, however, that if common ground was reached and an accord met between the employer and employee, it was perfectly fine for persons to take their holiday without the 14-day notice.

“At the same time, we recognise that this is a difficult time economically for companies, difficult times for all of us. We really don’t know when this COVID thing is going to pass so that we can return to a state of normalcy. So as an administrator, as a member of the government, we are also hoping that both the employer and the employee can resolve these issues in a way that is reasonable and constructive,” he said.

The issue has created a heavy talking point as companies seek a way to navigate the situation. However, Marshall made it abundantly clear that no one could be forced to take their holiday without adequate notice.

“An employee is able to say, ‘No I am not taking my holiday. So you have to still allow me to take my holiday later in the year.’ That is a position that we want people to resolve amicably. But the law is the law. You cannot compel an employee to take holiday so even if the business is closed, it is wrong for an employer to force the employee to treat that time as holiday time. But I am aware that in many instances, businesses and employees are coming up with reasonable compromises,” he said. (MP)