Dates on which leave is taken
18.—(1) A worker may take leave to which the worker is entitled under regulation 15 and regulation 16 on such days as the worker may elect by giving notice to the employer in accordance with paragraph (3), subject to any requirement imposed by the employer under paragraph (2).
(2) A worker’s employer may require the worker—
(a)to take leave to which the worker is entitled under regulation 15 or regulation 16; or
(b)not to take such leave,
on particular days, by giving notice to the worker in accordance with paragraph (3).
(3) A notice under paragraph (1) or (2)—
(a)may relate to all or part of the leave to which a worker is entitled in a leave year;
(b)shall specify the days on which leave is or (as the case may be) is not to be taken and, where the leave on a particular day is to be in respect of only part of the day, its duration; and
(c)shall be given to the employer or, as the case may be, the worker before the relevant date.
(4) The relevant date, for the purposes of paragraph (3), is the date—
(a)in the case of a notice under paragraph (1) or (2)(a), twice as many days in advance of the earliest day specified in the notice as the number of days or part-days to which the notice relates, and
(b)in the case of a notice under paragraph (2)(b), as many days in advance of the earliest day so specified as the number of days or part-days to which the notice relates.
(5) Any right or obligation under paragraphs (1) to (4) may be varied or excluded by a relevant agreement.
(6) This regulation does not apply to a worker to whom Schedule 2 applies (workers employed in agriculture) except where, in the case of a worker partly employed in agriculture, a relevant agreement so provides.