Sick during your holiday: how to keep the days and what to tell your employer

The holiday is booked, the case is packed, and two days before the flight the fever starts. Or worse: you fell ill on arrival and the week went by in the hotel room. In the UK those days do not have to be lost — but only if you did one specific thing in time.

Can holiday be turned into sick leave?

Yes, and Acas puts the rule briefly: a worker must report their sickness to their employer if they want to take any holiday as sick leave.

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Report it, and you get statutory sick pay for those days if you are entitled, while the holiday days themselves are kept for later. Say nothing, and they stay holiday.

Acas adds a practical point: the employer and worker should agree in writing whether the time counts as sickness or holiday.

How much is paid for sick days?

Statutory Sick Pay is up to £123.25 a week, paid by the employer. Less than the statutory amount is not allowed; more is possible under a company scheme. It can run for up to 28 weeks.

The gap against holiday pay is usually large, so converting days is worth it not for the money now but for the holiday days kept for later.

What if I am already off sick and want to take holiday?

That is your right, and the request must come from you: Acas states that it is up to a worker to request holiday while off sick.

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The reverse is barred: an employer cannot force a worker to take holiday while off sick. If holiday is agreed, sick leave is paused, holiday pay applies, and sick leave resumes afterwards if the person is still unwell.

What happens to days you could not take?

Carry-over applies. Sick leave is usually long term if it lasts longer than 4 weeks. A worker on long-term sick leave can carry over 4 weeks' unused holiday entitlement, and an employer may allow more.

Carried-over holiday must be used within 18 months of the carry-over date.

Carry-over may not be needed at all if the worker returns with enough of the holiday year left.

How much holiday is there in the first place?

5.6 weeks of paid holiday a year — at least 28 days for a five-day week. The statutory entitlement is capped at 28 days.

And for anyone off sick for a long period: holiday entitlement keeps building up during sick leave.

What to do in practice

Report the illness on the day, not after you return. Keep the correspondence. Ask what evidence the company's rules require. And put in writing which days were converted — a year later that will be the only proof.