Until the workinhg hours regulations came into force, we had a policy whereby staff did not accrue holiday rights during extended sickness absences (periods of over one month). Someone has now sugegsted that this is illegal under the working hours regulations, which provide for a minimum allowance of 20 days holiday during a holiday year.
Although I appreciate that holiday may not be carried over from one holiday year to another, this still leaves the situation where someone who is off for 3 months, say, can take a full holiday entitlement during the remaining 9 months. To take it to a ludicrous extreme, if they were off for 10 and a half months, they could take the rest of the year off.

Is there any practical way we could reinstate our previous policy? We have generous sick pay and disability insurance provisions, so I am comfortable that restricting holiday accrual ies reasonable in our overall terms and conditions.

Does anyone else have experience of restricting holiday entitlement in these circumstances?
Tony