Charles Pigott reports on sick workers, holidays & the small print
This summer, three weeks apart, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) heard two cases which addressed the question of whether a worker on sick leave must ask to take or carry forward accrued holiday entitlement under the Working Time Regulations 1998 (SI 1998/1833). They are NHS Leeds v Larner EAT/0088/11 and Fraser v Southwest London St George’s Mental Health Trust EAT/0456/10. The employer’s appeal in Larner is to be heard by the Court of Appeal, probably in the first quarter of 2012. Each decision was taken, at least on the face of it, in ignorance of the other.
The key issue in both cases was whether a sick worker needed to comply with reg 15 which provides that a worker “may take the leave to which he is entitled” by giving notice to the employer. The regulation goes on to stipulate the number of days’ notice required, depending on the length of the planned holiday, and also allows an employer to
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