ARTICLE
2 August 2012

Where Annual Leave And Sickness Meet - ANGED v FASGA

A worker who falls sick before their annual leave is entitled to take that annual leave at a later date.
United Kingdom Employment and HR

A worker who falls sick before their annual leave is entitled to take that annual leave at a later date. But what if they fall sick during their holiday?

The European Court of Justice considered this issue in ANGED v FASGA. The case began as a set of collective actions in the Spanish courts. The employees argued that they should have paid annual leave even where that leave coincided with sick leave. The employer's case was that if a worker fell ill before or during annual leave, they were not entitled to take that annual leave later on.

The ECJ held that when a worker is sick during annual leave then, irrespective of when that period of sickness began, they are entitled to take their annual leave at a later time. The purpose of paid annual leave is to enable the worker to rest; sick leave is about recovery. It would go against the spirit of annual leave to only allow workers who had fallen sick before their annual leave began to take that annual leave once they had recovered.

A deceptively significant decision. It raises a host of potential issues about when someone is or is not unfit for work, and about the way in which employers should deal with holidays and sick pay both in contracts and company policies.

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Thomas Eggar LLP is not authorised by the Financial Services Authority. However, we are included on the register maintained by the Financial Services Authority so that we can carry on insurance mediation activity which is broadly the advising on, selling and administering of insurance contracts. This part of our business, including arrangements for complaints and redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. The register can be accessed via the Financial Services Authority website. We can also provide certain further limited investment services to clients if those services are incidental to the professional services we have been engaged to provide as solicitors.

Thesis Asset Management plc, our associated financial services company, provides a comprehensive range of investment services and advice. Thesis is owned by members of Thomas Eggar LLP but is independent of and separate to it. No lawyer connected with Thomas Eggar LLP provides services through Thesis as a practicing lawyer regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Thesis is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Thesis has its own framework of investor protection and professional indemnity cover but Thesis clients do not enjoy the statutory protection of solicitors' clients.

The contents of this article are intended as guidelines for clients and other readers. It is not a substitute for considered advice on specific issues. Consequently, we cannot accept any responsibility for this information or for any errors or omissions.

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