Where the dates of a worker’s maternity leave coincided with those of the general annual leave fixed, by a collective agreement, for the entire workforce, the requirements of the Working Times Directive relating to paid annual leave could not be regarded as having been met.
The court said: ‘The entitlement of every worker to paid annual leave must be regarded as a particularly important principle of Community social law from which there can be no derogations and whose implementation by the competent national authorities must be confined within the limits expressly laid down by Directive 93/104.
It is significant in that connection that that Directive also embodies the rule that a worker must normally be entitled to actual rest, with a view to ensuring effective protection of his health and safety, since it is only where the employment relationship is terminated that article 7(2) permits an allowance to be paid in lieu of paid annual leave.
The purpose of the entitlement to annual leave is different from that of the entitlement to maternity leave. Maternity leave is intended, first, to protect a woman’s biological condition during and after pregnancy and, secondly, to protect the special relationship between a woman and her child over the period which follows pregnancy and childbirth.’
Citations:
C-342/01, [2004] EUECJ C-342/01, [2005] ICR 1040
Links:
Cited by:
Cited – Stringer and Others v Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs; Schultz-Hoff v Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund ECJ 20-Jan-2009
(Grand Chamber) Several employees claimed that having been absent from work sick, they were entitled to carry forward their unused holiday entitlements, or if a former worker, to pay in lieu under the Working Time directive.
Held: The workers . .
Cited – Russell and Others v Transocean International Resources Ltd and Others SC 7-Dec-2011
russell_transocean
The appellants worked on various shifts for the defendants in off-shore oil-fields. They were given on-shore rest breaks, which the employers said should count toward their holiday entitlements.
Held: The Court dismissed the employees’ appeal . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
European, Employment
Updated: 10 June 2022; Ref: scu.194870
