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Excess holiday recovery letter

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Our Excess Holiday Recovery Letter template helps employers address overpaid holiday pay issues professionally and transparently.

Reading time
How long to understand and implement this letter?
5 mins
Word count
How many words in this letter?
157
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What is an Excess holiday recovery letter?

An excess holiday recovery letter is a formal communication from an employer to an employee who has taken more holiday days than they were entitled to, informing them that they must repay the excess days taken.

It is important for employers to communicate this information clearly and sensitively to the employee, and to provide support if needed to ensure that the employee is able to repay the excess holiday taken. Employers may also want to review their holiday policy to ensure that it is clear and consistent, to help prevent similar situations in the future.

Best practice timescale for this to be issued
When should this letter be issued?
Usually when the employee resigns, or at the end of a holiday year
Issued by who, to whom
Who should issue this letter, and to whom?
The Employer (you) to the Employee
Applicable legal jurisdictions
In which jurisdictions can this letter be used?
Great Britain & NI (United Kingdom), Worldwide

How can I ensure that this letteris executed effectively?

Step Description Responsibility Timing
1 Identify excess holiday days taken by the employee. HR Ongoing monitoring
2 Calculate the value of excess holiday taken. Payroll As soon as identified
3 Prepare an Excess Holiday Recovery Letter explaining the situation, the excess days, and the recovery process. HR Before sending
4 Send the letter to the employee, including the details of repayment options and deadline. HR Upon preparation
5 Monitor and track the repayment process. HR After sending letter

What legislation and best practice guidelines have been taken into account in the development of this template?

United Kingdom

  • Employment Rights Act 1996: Provides guidelines on holiday entitlement and pay, including how to handle overpaid holiday pay.

  • Working Time Regulations 1998: Defines rules around annual leave, including calculation, carry-over, and how to handle excess leave taken.

  • Deduction from Wages (Limitation) Regulations 2014: Outlines legal requirements for recovering overpaid wages, including excess holiday pay.


Other territories

Consult your jurisdiction's employment legislation or labor laws to ensure compliance with the template. Review the language for local precision.

Excess holiday recovery [Delete this line]

[Company name]

[Sender address]

 

[date]

[Recipient name]

[Recipient address]

 

Dear [Recipient first name],

 

Recovery of holiday taken in excess of your entitlement

I'm writing to let you know that, as a result of the [recent] or [imminent] termination of your employment, you will have taken [number] more holiday days than you have accumulated in annual leave.
 
You have taken [number] days off during the current annual leave year, but as of your last day of employment you [had]/[will have] accrued [number] days.
 
As a result, you will need to repay the holiday taken above your accrued entitlement. That sum is £[amount] for [number] days.
 
[Therefore, the sum will be deducted from your final salary] The sum of £[amount]will be removed from your final salary, but this will create a shortfall, and therefore you'll need to make a payment of £[amount] to cover this.
 
You have two options for paying the balance due: a chequemade payable to [name of recipient] or a bank transfer to account number [number], sort code [number].
 

Yours [faithfully | sincerely],

 

 

[Sender name]

[Sender job title]

[Sender telephone]
[Sender email]

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£ 9

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Absence and attendance template toolkit:
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In which communication or process sequence does this template belong?

Previous step
Policies
Annual leave policy

Our Annual Leave Policy template simplifies time-off requests, ensures fair allocation, and fosters a well-rested workforce for better productivity.

This step
Excess holiday recovery letter template
Excess holiday recovery letter
excess holiday recovery letter