“Can my employer force me to cancel holidays to a quarantine region?”

In theory, there’s nothing to stop an employer from asking someone to cancel their annual leave, and if they did so, they wouldn’t be liable to refund any holiday costs. But this really comes down to whether doing so would amount to a reasonable management instruction. In cases where employees could do their role from home (and have proved that during the months of lockdown), it’s a hard argument for companies to make.

“In this scenario, employers should provide a good business reason to justify their decision,” says Hill. “It’s likely to rely on the fact that an employee travelling to a quarantine region may then be out of work for a further two weeks, which is something the business cannot cope with as the role cannot be conducted at home.”

In other words, if you do your job easily and well from home, there’s less likelihood that your employer will force you to cancel your holiday. Even if they can legally do so, it will likely damage their working relationship with you; something that always need to taken into balance.

“Can my boss cancel my holiday?”: your questions about work rights during the coronavirus crisis