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March 2021February 2021January 2021December 2020November 2020October 2020September 2020August 2020July 2020June 2020May 2020April 2020March 2020February 2020January 2020December 2019November 2019October 2019September 2019August 2019July 2019June 2019May 2019April 2019March 2019February 2019January 2019December 2018November 2018October 2018September 2018August 2018May 2018Two recent judgement by the Court of the European Union (ECJ) have significant implications for the way employers deal with annual leave.
“Use it or lose it” is a common principle embedded in many employment relationships. It clearly makes sense from everyone’s point of view to prevent the stockpiling of annual leave. Holiday is the opportunity for rest and relaxation from which there are obvious benefits for both employer and employee.
However, in the two cases in question (Kreuziger v Land Berlin and Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften eV v Shimizu) the employees had both asked for payments in lieu of untaken holiday on the termination of their employment. Their employers (one a public sector employer and the other private sector) refused. The cases were referred to the ECJ.
In its judgement the ECJ found that a worker could not automatically lose his or her right to paid annual leave days to which he or she was entitled under EU law or a payment in lieu of those untaken annual leave days just because he or she did not apply to take them before the end of his or her employment.
It went on to say that the right to a payment in lieu of untaken holiday leave would only be lost if the employer had given the worker the opportunity and specific and transparent encouragement to take the leave in good time and could prove that he or she had done so.
So, what’s the message for employers:
If you don’t do this, then you may find that your employees will be able to claim a right to carry over untaken holiday leave to the next holiday year and be paid in lieu of untaken holiday when they resign or leave your employment for any other reason.
One final note – the judgements of the ECJ apply only to the four week holiday entitlement set out in the EU Working Time Directive. They do not apply to the additional 1.6 weeks included in the United Kingdom’s Working Time Regulations.
George Lepine http://www.on-track-hr.co.uk - a trustworthy value for money HR service dedicated to helping you to meet your business goals and get the best from your team.
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