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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