Refusal of leave

Employers should not refuse your leave solely due to strike action. To do so would be wholly self-defeating as consultants eligible to participate in action may choose to strike instead. Such refusals would only serve to worsen employment relations.

Both employers and consultants (as employees) must make every effort to work together to ensure that consultants are able to take their full annual leave entitlement. Rejecting out of hand requests to take annual leave fundamentally undermines this process. In any case, provided that suitable arrangements have been made, consultants may take up to two days of their annual leave without seeking formal permission as long as they give notification beforehand (Schedule 18, paragraph 3 – consultant terms and conditions of service).

Leave cancellation

If you have approved annual leave that coincides with a day of industrial action, you should still normally be able to take it. As above, there is no value to an employer in cancelling planned leave as the consultant would be entitled to take strike action anyway. Indeed, such action would risk damaging employment relations.

Employers can lawfully give notice to cancel approved annual leave, however this should be exceptional, and justified by a clear and proportionate business reason. The amount of notice given by employers must be the equivalent to the amount of leave a consultant has booked e.g. two weeks’ leave must be cancelled with two weeks' notice. If an employer suggests they intend to implement a blanket cancellation of annual leave, this should be raised with the Local Negotiating Committee (LNC).

Study leave

We recognise the importance of study leave. As such, we recommend rescheduling study time to a period when it is not impacted by industrial action and when you can better use it as it is meant to be used.

However, an employer should not cancel study leave solely because industrial action is occurring unless it can demonstrate that the cancelation is necessary and justified.

Sick leave

Workers who are absent on sick leave when industrial action takes place keep their right to statutory sick pay, provided they follow the usual rules for reporting sickness.

Any attempt by an employer to introduce a rule which refuses to recognise genuine sickness absence during industrial action should be raised with your LNC. An employer may make enquiries into the legitimacy of any sickness absence, but this should follow all appropriate local policies.