In Case C-78/11, the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) has ruled that a worker who becomes unfit for work during his annual paid leave is entitled at a later point in time to a period of leave of the same duration as that of his sick leave, irrespective of the point at which the incapacity arose.
The Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC) states, in part:
Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that every worker is entitled to paid annual leave of at least four weeks in accordance with the conditions for entitlement to, and granting of, such leave laid down by national legislation and/or practice.
Trade unions brought suits before the Spanish courts seeking recognition of the right of certain workers to paid annual leave even where the leave coincides with periods of sick leave owing to temporary incapacity for work. Spanish law explicitly provides that workers are entitled to take annual leave at a later time if scheduled annual leave coincides with a period of temporary incapacity resulting from pregnancy, labor, or breastfeeding.
The Spanish Supreme Court stayed the proceedings before it to refer this question to the ECJ for a preliminary ruling:
Does Article 7(1) of Directive 2003/88 … preclude an interpretation of national legislation which does not permit interruption of a period of leave so that the full period – or the remaining period – can be taken at a later time if a worker is temporarily incapacitated when he is on leave?
The Court held in a previous case that a worker who was unfit for work before his or her period of annual leave begins is entitled to take that leave at another time, separate from the period of sick leave. In holding that the right applies irrespective of when the incapacity arises, the Court noted that it would be arbitrary and contrary to the purpose of the annual leave entitlement to grant the worker that right only if he is unfit for work when the annual leave period commences.
