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Falling ill on holiday
[ch 4: page 135]A worker who falls ill either during their four weeks’ statutory holiday under the Working Time Directive, or before starting a pre-booked statutory holiday, must be allowed to reschedule that holiday to a later date, if necessary during the next leave year. An employer can refuse particular holiday dates, but must allow leave to be carried forward into the next holiday year if it cannot accommodate the worker’s request. This was established in the following ECJ ruling:
A work accident meant that Mr Pereda was ill for all but two days of his one month long summer holiday. When his employer refused to let him re-book his holiday to take later in the year, he brought a successful claim. The ECJ decided that he must be allowed to carry his holiday forward to a time when he was fit enough to use it, because the purpose of sick leave (recovering from being ill) is different from that of annual holiday (enjoying rest).
Pereda v Madrid Movilidad SA [2009] IRLR 959
The statutory sick pay rules under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 say that sickness during a holiday inside the EU qualifies for SSP as long as the employee has a medical certificate. See page Chapter 8 for more information about SSP.
Employers are free to set different rules for sickness on holiday beyond the 4 weeks’ holiday provided by the Directive.
The treatment of holiday for workers who are on maternity leave is explained on page 327.