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A union-backed European legal challenge has established employees on long-term sick leave are entitled to take the holiday they accrued when they return to work.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling also says if workers were sacked or left a firm, they must receive holiday pay equivalent to the time they were unable to take while ill. The ruling does not mean that staff away on long-term illness automatically benefit from annual paid leave while absent from work, but does require employers to give staff a reasonable chance to take holiday they accrued while off sick.
The case was brought by five PCS members at Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the UK and a worker from Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund in Germany.
The case was based on a stipulation of the European Working Time Directive, which says workers have a 'right to a minimum period of paid annual leave.' The ECJ ruling said: 'A worker does not lose his right to paid annual leave which he has been unable to exercise because of sickness. He must be compensated for his annual leave not taken.'
Employers' organisation the CBI called the decision 'a real blow.' The UK portion of the case was referred to the ECJ by the House of Lords. It is anticipated the case, which involves PCS members at HMRC, will return to the Lords later this year, to consider the effect of the judgment and to decide whether a complaint about unpaid annual leave can be brought as a claim for deduction from wages.
Source: Risks
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