9 August 2011

Carrying forward untaken holiday - Long Term Sickness

Carrying forward untaken holiday - Long Term Sickness

As is well known, the general rule is that employees must either take their full holiday entitlement during the holiday year in which it accrues or else forfeit the right to any holiday not so taken. Under the Working Time regulations 1998, a worker has no right to carry un-taken holiday forward to the next year; nor can a worker in that position claim pay in lieu either, unless his employment has ended.

However, there is an important exception to these general rules.

Within the last few years European case law has established that if a worker is unable to take annual leave because of long-term sickness absence, he or she accumulates the right to take that leave on returning to work (or pay in lieu if their employment is terminated) - even if that return is not until the next leave year.