Can an employee take annual leave whilst furloughed? <\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, they can.<\/p>\n How would employees be paid? <\/strong><\/p>\n Whilst furloughed employees are only entitled to basic salary, however remuneration for annual leave must be normal remuneration which includes bonuses, commission etc, so employers should make sure that employees are being paid what they usually would be for annual leave. However, there is no reason that an employer cannot recover 80% of the basic salary from HMRC if the employee is on annual leave and furloughed.<\/p>\n Can we require employees to take annual leave? <\/strong><\/p>\n Yes. In order for an employer to require their employee to take a period of annual leave, they must have twice as much notice. If you want an employee to take one week\u2019s annual leave, you will therefore provide them with two weeks\u2019 notice.<\/p>\n Would a period of annual leave count towards the three weeks requirement? <\/strong><\/p>\n As we know, any period of furlough must be at least three weeks, and if you require an employee to take annual leave whilst furloughed, this will count towards the three weeks. For example, an employer could furlough an employee and at the same time give two weeks\u2019 notice of one week\u2019s annual leave, taking the total duration of that period to three weeks. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>What if we do not want an employee to use their annual leave whilst furloughed? <\/strong><\/p>\n This is not a problem; many employers may want to benefit from the Job Retention Scheme as much as possible and not top up an employee\u2019s salary. If an employee has been prevented from using their annual leave as a result of coronavirus, they are entitled to carry over a maximum of four weeks for two holiday years.<\/p>\n