holiday pay on furlough

[mylittlepony1]

I work for a large company and have been on furlough since March - as have virtually the entire workforce. Today I had a text from my manager saying I HAD to take a weeks holiday this month (same for all employees). Is this legal?

Yes

Yes I’ve had an email today too saying if/when I return to work I can only take one weeks annual leave for the rest of the annual leave period which is Sept to Sept so I have to consider the possibility of using nearly all of my holiday entitlement during the furlough period

Really? That's news to me. I thought an employer had to furlough you for a minimum of three weeks. By taking a week of holiday I'm essentially returning to work, but I presume they are furlough me again afterwards. Is this standard practice for big companies?

Yes but you should be getting whatever you're entitled to in terms of holiday pay for that week

I'm currently on the 80% furlough. My employer initially topped up the extra 20%, but this has now dropped to the standard government 80%. I will get full pay for the week, but our holiday year runs January to December, so I didn't think the current situation would have much impact in terms of holiday.

”I thought an employer had to furlough you for a minimum of three weeks.”

You can be on holiday and furlough at the same time.

It’s simply unmanageable for a company to have lots of people coming back from furlough in a couple of months all with lots of holiday to take, so most employers are either encouraging or requiring people to take some while on furlough.

Thank you for all your replies. They have been very helpful. I genuinely didn't know what my employer could and couldn't do during this time.

We’ve been locked down 3 months. If you take and average 4 weeks of holiday 1 week per 3 months it’s only fair really

I wasn't furloughed, I've been working throughout (not from home) I personally think it's very fair for a company to ask you to take holiday during furlough, otherwise you will be back at work, then off on holiday for a great deal of time when you come back.
I need the furloughed people to come back to my workplace to help with the workload and give me a break, not for them to disappear off again when they had had 3 months and counting off work! (I know it's not been a holiday - but it sometimes looks like it if you are a key-worker)