Preloaded UK policy

Annual Leave Policy template

Statutory entitlement, carry-over rules, booking procedure and bank holiday arrangements.

Legal basis
  • Working Time Regulations 1998
  • Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2023
Last reviewed January 2024. Guidance, not legal advice.

What the policy covers

  1. 1. ENTITLEMENT
    All employees are entitled to a minimum of 5.6 weeks' paid annual leave per leave year under the Working Time Regulations 1998.
  2. 2. ACCRUAL
    Annual leave accrues from the first day of employment.
  3. 3. BOOKING LEAVE
    Employees should request annual leave using … giving at least ….
  4. 4. CARRY-OVER
    In normal circumstances, the statutory minimum leave entitlement (5.6 weeks) cannot be carried over to the next leave year and must be taken within the leave year in which it is ea
  5. 5. BANK AND PUBLIC HOLIDAYS
    [England and Wales: 8 bank holidays per year are recognised.
  6. 6. LEAVE ON TERMINATION
    On termination of employment, employees will be paid for any accrued but untaken statutory leave.

Who needs it

Any UK employer running rotas, leave and the day-to-day of employing people. These set out the rules once so nobody argues about them twice.

Questions people ask

Is a annual leave policy a legal requirement?

It rests on Working Time Regulations 1998 and Working Time (Amendment) Regulations 2023. Some policies must be written down once a business reaches a certain size or does certain work; others are simply how a tribunal, an inspector or a client's auditor expects to see that you have thought about it. A clear, dated, signed policy is the evidence either way. Guidance, not legal advice.

Can I change it to suit how we work?

Yes. Inside Work-Lynx it is a starting point: put your company name in, adjust the arrangements to what you actually do, set the review date and publish it. Staff read and acknowledge it on their phones, and you can see who has not.

Is it up to date?

Last reviewed January 2024. The pack is updated when the law moves, and every policy carries a review date so it does not quietly go stale.

How do I get it?

It is preloaded in Work-Lynx with the other 48 UK policies. Work-Lynx is £2.50 a month plus £1 per employee, 14 days free, no card, and what you see on the pricing page is the bill.

Who is it for?

Any UK employer running rotas, leave and the day-to-day of employing people. These set out the rules once so nobody argues about them twice.

All 49 UK policies, £2.50 a month

This policy and 48 others are already in Work-Lynx, alongside GPS clock-in, rotas, timesheets, leave and Employ AI for UK employment law. £2.50 base plus £1 per employee a month. 14 days free, no card, no sales call.

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