The NCA has now published its updated COVID-19 Annual Leave guidance which is in response to the The Working Time (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulation 2020 (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/365/made). These were announced by HM Government on the 27th March 2020 and granted employers the option to allow workers to carry over annual leave for up to 2 years. The regulations additionally allowed employers to take a decision on how to apply this relaxation in legislation.
During our engagement with the agency on these matters, accepting the importance of taking annual leave to maintaining members’ health and wellbeing, we advised the agency that we would also continue to encourage the agency’s senior managers to take a sympathetic position in allowing some officers to postpone leave especially during the current and extended ‘lockdown’ periods. We pointed out the obvious benefits to the health and wellbeing of NCOA members by taking annual leave when they could benefit from access to outside spaces and for some officers, not being estranged from their family and friends.
We will continue to monitor the application of this guidance to ensure that our members are treated fairly, consistently and where possible decisions are taken in cognisance of the health and wellbeing of our members.
Any NCOA member who has a specific concern can continue to seek assistance from the NCOA in line with our recent member briefs.
Kind regards,
Steve Bond
National Officer