The Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled that a worker on sick pay for a year was entitled to payment in lieu for the holidays she was unable to take because of her illness. It also stated that this was the situation even though the worker had not put in a request prior to the holiday year ending.
In giving his judgment in the case NHS Leeds v Larner Mr Justice Bean said "Annual leave entitlement accrues during a period of sick leave. The issue in this case is whether, if the worker does not submit a request for that annual leave before the pay year ends she forfeits the entitlement." He found that she did not forfeit the entitlement.
The decision means that employers will now need to review their holiday pay policies and contractual arrangements to encourage employees to take breaks in each leave year or run the risk of holidays being taken by default.
