Workers taken ill on holiday will be given extra time off Workers who become ill during their holidays will be legally entitled to extra time off work under controversial plans to be introduced later this year by Vince Cable, the Business Secretary. Under the changes to the working time directive, time taken off work for sickness, maternity and paternity leave must be given to workers in addition to their legal right to annual leave. If a worker becomes ill during annual leave, employers will have to give them the extra time off after they have produced a sick note. The new legal regulations will be introduced in October and the Government estimates that they will cost employers more than £100 million annually. Ministers claim that the new regime must be introduced following several European legal judgments. However, the rules will add to growing concerns over the impact of regulation on British firms, which is thought to be undermining the economic recovery. Ministers also admit that companies are also worried that the new rules are open to abuse as workers could falsely claim they were sick in order to claim more leave at a later date. David Cameron has repeatedly pledged to cut regulation but an official report published last week showed only minimal action to reduce the burden on business. There is growing Conservative concern that the Liberal Democrats are blocking moves to deregulate business, and recommendations made in an independent report for the Government have been largely dismissed. The Government was due to unveil plans to exclude small firms from some employment regulations but the scheme has been delayed by Lib Dem concern. The new working time regulations were last night criticised by Britain's major business groups. The Government is currently trying to renegotiate European working time rules and business groups have called for a moratorium on other changes. Guy Bailey, the head of employment and employee relations at the CBI, said: "While active discussions are ongoing in Brussels on the future of the working time directive, it may make sense for the UK Government to pause before implementing the latest European Court of Justice rulings. Introducing a set of changes in October that immediately have to be reviewed and replaced would not be a good outcome. Under the proposal, employers have to guarantee their workers a minimum of four weeks annual leave. Sickness absence or other types of leave cannot be counted towards the four weeks. Employers will be able to offer workers the choice of taking extra annual leave in the current year if feasible - or they will be able to insist that the holiday time is "carried over" and taken the following year. An official consultation on the