The Working Time Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2016

Entitlement to annual leave

15.—(1) Subject to paragraph (4), a worker is entitled to four weeks’ annual leave in each leave year.

(2) A worker’s leave year, for the purposes of this regulation, begins—

(a) on such date during the calendar year as may be provided for in a relevant agreement; or

(b) where there are no provisions of a relevant agreement which apply, on the date on which the worker’s employment begins and each subsequent anniversary of that date.

(3) Paragraph (2) does not apply to a worker to whom Schedule 2 applies (workers employed in agriculture) except where, in the case of a worker partly employed in agriculture, a relevant agreement so provides.

(4) Where the date on which a worker’s employment begins is later than the date on which (by virtue of a relevant agreement) the worker’s first leave year begins, the leave to which the worker is entitled in that leave year is a proportion of the period applicable under paragraph (1) equal to the proportion of that leave year remaining on the date on which the worker’s employment begins.

(5) Leave to which a worker is entitled under this regulation may be taken in instalments, but—

(a) it may only be taken in the leave year in respect of which it is due, and

(b) it may not be replaced by a payment in lieu except where the worker’s employment is terminated.