Changing Law on Holiday Pay.
On 1st April 2009, the minimum paid holiday entitlement increases from 4.8 weeks per year to 5.6 weeks per year. This amounts to 28 days holiday for an employee working 5 days per week. It is important to appreciate that this 28 days includes bank holidays so that an employer who provides 20 days floating holidays plus 8 days bank Holidays is meeting the minimum requirement.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the very recently decided case of HM Revenue and Customs –v- Stringer and ors have added to employers holiday pay obligations. The ECJ have held that workers on long term sick leave continue to accrue their holiday entitlement while they are off sick. This applies even where the employee has been off sick for a very long time and has no entitlement to sick pay.
It is not yet entirely clear how the decision of the ECJ will be applied in national legislation. The ECJ have held that national legislation must either provide for annual leave to be taken during the holiday year in question, or, alternatively, the employee must be allowed to carry over their holiday entitlement into the next holiday year.
The first alternative would be that an employee who was off sick for the whole of 2008 would be entitled to their 2008 holidays (in addition to their 2009 holidays) if they returned to work at the beginning of 2009. The second alternative way would be that workers were permitted to take their paid annual leave while they were actually off sick. In these circumstances, the employee who was off sick could approach the employer and ask that a certain period of time be treated as their holiday entitlement. The employer would then have to pay the employee full pay during this holiday period, even if their entitlement to sick pay had ended.
There is likely to be a period of some legal uncertainty until the Stringer case returns for a final decision to the House of Lords. In the meantime, we expect employees to approach their employer while they are off sick and to request holiday pay. Employers in this situation should seek legal advice.
March 2009
This article gives a general overview only and the legal position at the time of writing this article. It cannot be relied upon in any particular case. Specific legal advice must always be considered to include consideration as to whether the legal position contained in this article has changed since going to print. For further information and advice, please contact Paul Archer or Lauren Harkin on 01793 527141 or alternatively by email on Paul.Archer@lemon-co.co.uk or Lauren.Harkin@lemon-co.co.uk
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<p><strong><a href="http://www.lemon-co.co.uk/article_holiday-pay.php">Changing Law on Holiday Pay</a></strong><br />
On 1st April 2009, the minimum paid holiday entitlement increases from 4.8 weeks per year to 5.6 weeks per year. This amounts to 28 days holiday for an employee working 5 days per week. It is important to appreciate that this 28 days includes bank holidays so that an employer who provides 20 days floating holidays plus 8 days bank Holidays is meeting the minimum requirement.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the very recently decided case of HM Revenue and Customs –v- Stringer and ors have added to employers holiday pay obligations. The ECJ have held that workers on long term sick leave continue to accrue their holiday entitlement while they are off sick. This applies even where the employee has been off sick for a very long time and has no entitlement to sick pay...</p>
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