HR News In 2024

1 Sick during annual leave

From 2024: leave days are in principle retained in case of illness during holiday.

Until 31 December 2023, if an employee fell ill during their annual leave, the employment contract remained suspended on the ground of the annual leave. This was because of the rule that the "first ground for suspension prevails". As a result, the employee lost the holidays during which they were sick.

However, this rule was contrary to the European Working Time Directive (2003/88/EC), which provides that all workers are entitled to annual leave – with pay – of at least four weeks. Taking this into account, the European Court of Justice previously ruled that an employee was entitled to take their holidays later if they became ill during a period of paid leave.