Policy News Journal - 2012-13

EUROPEAN JUDGEMENT: WORKERS SICK ON HOLIDAY MUST RECLAIM TIME OFF

21 June 2012

A European court has ruled that workers who become ill during their holidays have the right to take additional paid time off later. This ruling is binding on all EU members, including Britain.

The Telegraph has reported:

The European Court of Justice has expanded on its insistence that all workers throughout the EU have a right to reclaim holiday time affected by illness.

The Luxembourg-based court insisted that employers should honour workers’ rights to both time off sick and paid holidays.

“The purpose of entitlement to paid annual leave is to enable the worker to rest and enjoy a period of relaxation and leisure,” the court said. “The purpose of entitlement to sick leave is different, since it enables a worker to recover from an illness that has caused him to be unfit for work.”

It would be “arbitrary and contrary to the purpose of entitlement to paid annual leave” to deny workers holiday time in exchange for time spent sick.

The judgment goes further than the court’s earlier rulings on sick leave. Previously, the court had said that people who were sick before their holiday started could take their leave at another time. The judgment relates to the EU’s Working Time Directive. While the UK has an opt-out on parts of the directive relating to working hours, there is no exemption on sick pay and holiday. The government has said it will apply the court’s rulings from October, although business groups have said that doing so will be harmful to the wider UK economy.

Norman Lamb, the employment relations minister, said the ruling boosted the case for changing EU rules on holiday rights.

He said: “I do not believe that the directive had to be interpreted in this way which involves extra cost for business. Most employees accept that if they fall ill while on holiday, it is unfortunate but they do not expect extra holiday. This judgment reinforces the need for a reassessment of the scope of the Working Time Directive.” The Government’s own estimates suggest that adopting the rules will cost employers more than £100 million annually.

The Department for Business did not comment on Thursday night, but the Coalition has pledged to resist implementing the court’s judgments.

Earlier this year, Vince Cable, the Business Secretary, described the court’s rulings as “an unnecessary burden on businesses” and “completely unjustifiable at a time of economic strain”.

Some British employers, including the BBC, already give staff the right to reclaim holiday time if they fall sick.

Business groups said the rulings underlined the need for ministers to resist the court. The CBI said that British businesses “would like to see the judgments reversed, so that the directive is focused on the health and safety of the workforce, as originally intended”. The Federation of Small Businesses urged the Government to “avoid implementation of any ECJ ruling on annual leave and sick leave for as long as possible”.

CIPP comment

CIPP Policy News Journal

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