A sickening development for employers?
A SICKENING DEVELOPMENT FOR EMPLOYERS?
The ECJ has today delivered its opinion in the case of Stringer v HMRC (formerly Ainsworth).
In an opinion which is likely to lead the House of Lords to overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision, it was found that:
1) Workers on sick leave for the whole of their annual leave year are still entitled to 4 weeks (now 4.8 weeks) paid leave despite not being at work in that time; and
2) A worker does not lose the right to paid annual leave just because he has not worked for the whole or part of that annual leave year and is still off sick when his employment ends.
This decision will be unpopular with employers not least because it is even less incentive for employees on long-term absence to return to work when they can get full pay of their annual holiday entitlement.
Full consideration of the case and its practical implications will be covered in a future Employment Bulletin as this bulletin is based on a press release, and full judgment has not yet been published.
20 January 2009