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Falling ill while on holiday
A worker who falls ill either while on holiday or before starting a pre-booked holiday is entitled to take the leave again at a later date, if necessary during the next leave year. An employer is entitled to refuse particular holiday dates, but must allow the worker to carry forward the annual leave if it is not possible to accommodate the request. This was established in the following case:
An accident at work meant that Mr Pereda was ill for all but two days of his one month Summer holiday. When his employer refused to let him re-book that holiday to take later in the year, he brought a successful claim.
The basis of the ECJ’s decision that Mr Pereda must be allowed to carry his holiday forward is that the purpose of sick leave (recovering from being ill) is different from that of annual leave (enjoying rest). Pereda also established that a worker can choose to take paid annual leave while off sick but cannot be forced to do this. Taking annual leave while off sick might be a good idea if a worker has used up their whole entitlement to full pay sick pay.
Pereda v Madrid Movilidad SA [2009] IRLR 959
The coalition government’s consultation Modern Workplaces includes proposals to amend the Working Time Regulations in response to the Pereda judgment.
An employee who falls ill on holiday is entitled to normal contractual sick pay. As regards SSP, the SSP rules under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, say that sickness during a holiday (unless the employee falls ill outside the European Union) qualifies for SSP as long as the employee has a medical certificate.