Recent Developments concerning a Worker's Right to take Annual Leave and the Impact of Long-Term Sick Leave
|
8.7.2011 On 7 July 2011, the Advocate General delivered her opinion in KHS AG v Schulte C-214/10, which is a German case concerning the relationship between the right to take annual leave under the Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC) and long-term sick leave. A court in Germany has sought a preliminary ruling from the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) as to whether EU law allows workers to accumulate annual leave over several years, and to receive payment in lieu of such accumulated annual leave, in circumstances in which a worker was not able to exercise his right to take annual leave due to long-term sickness. In addition, the court sought a ruling as to whether Member States are allowed to set a time limit of 18 months in which a worker must use such entitlements. The Advocate General’s opinion is not yet available in English. However, the ECJ has issued a press release, which confirms that the Advocate General concluded that: EU law does not require that annual leave, or any payment in lieu of annual leave, be accumulated without any limitation in time. The Advocate General held the view that allowing a worker to take annual leave several years after the leave year to which it related would not achieve the objective of the Working Time Directive to allow workers to relax and recuperate. A national law under which a worker’s right to take annual leave extinguishes 18 months after the end of the relevant leave year is p and capable of allowing a worker to exercise his right to take annual leave. Further, the Advocate General considered that an 18 month period should be used by member states as a guideline for the purposes of implementing the Working Time Directive. It is the role of the Advocate General to propose to the ECJ, in complete independence, a legal solution to the cases for which they are responsible. For clarification, the ECJ is not obliged to follow the Advocate General's opinion. Judgment will be provided by the ECJ at a later date.
|
