Yes, employers and workers can agree notice arrangements for annual leave. In the absence of a relevant agreement or provision in a worker’s contract of employment, under the working time regulations of 1998, the notice period that a worker must give to take annual leave must be at least twice the amount of annual leave to be taken e.g., if an employee wants to take one week’s annual leave, they should give the employer at least two weeks’ notice.

The employer is entitled to refuse the worker permission to take the annual leave requested, if it gives notice equivalent to the period of leave requested. In this example the employer would be required to give one week’s notice.

Employers are not required to give reasons for refusing holiday requests although doing so is good practice. Requests are most frequently refused where a number of other workers have already applied to take the same period off, or where the time requested is during a peak business period when the workers services are required.

In turning down a holiday request, the employer must always have regard to the duty of mutual trust and confidence that exists between themselves and the employee. This essentially means that requests should be turned down in good faith and on reasonable grounds, not simply on an arbitrary basis. If a request is declined, the worker should be permitted to take the leave at a later point during the leave year which can be agreed by the employer.