Employment Matters January 2012

Holidays and sickness absence: The story so far…

The interrelation between holidays and sickness absence is notoriously difficult and the current law is simply not clear.  There has been a flurry of recent cases and much talk of reform on the horizon and we thought it would be useful to provide you with a round-up of the law at present and some practical advice on what to do whilst we wait for some legislative clarity.

Under the Working Time Directive (‘the Directive’) every worker is entitled to paid annual leave of at least four weeks.  This has been implemented in Great Britain by the Working Time Regulations 1998 (‘WTR’) which provide workers with the right to take 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday in each leave year. 

Under the WTR the first four weeks may only be taken in the leave year in respect of which they are due and may not be replaced by a payment in lieu except on termination of employment (regulation 13(9)).  A ‘relevant agreement’ may provide for the remaining 1.6 weeks to be carried over to the next leave year. 

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