24 January 2008

Holiday Pay and Long-Term sickness

An opinion given by the Advocate-General earlier today goes against what was understood to be the correct law on statutory holiday pay for employees on long term sickness absence.

Until today, an employee who was on sick leave did not accrue statutory holiday pay whilst they were not at work. The opinion today, given in Stringer v HMRC marks a complete U-turn and states that the entitlement to paid holiday does accrue in this situation.

It is still the case that an employee may not take any holiday whilst they are off sick and they will therefore only receive their holiday entitlement on their return to work or they will be paid in lieu on termination of their employment.

Please note that this information is provided for general knowledge only and therefore specific advice should be sought for individual cases.

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