Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of requiring employers to allow staff to take leave during school holidays.

The Government has published guidance setting out the flexibility that employers and workers have when booking annual leave. Where possible workers should agree their holiday dates in advance, giving twice the amount of notice as the amount of leave they want to take. Employers can refuse annual leave requests at certain times with good reason, however they cannot refuse to let workers take their leave at all. If an employer needs a worker to take holiday on certain dates, they should tell them at least twice as many days before as the number of days they need a worker to take.