Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2015 / January 2016 | Page 127
LEGAL
Roach Pittis advice
By Chris Prew
Roach Pittis Solicitors,
60 - 66 Lugley Street, Newport, PO30 5EU
01983 524431
[email protected]
Holiday entitlement
during sickness
“Am I entitled to Holiday Pay when I am off work sick?”
The Employment Appeal Tribunal
(EAT) considered this in the case Plumb
v Duncan Print Group Limited. Mr Plumb
took four years sick leave following an
accident at work. Upon his dismissal he
sought payment of 60 days total accrued
annual leave covering three years. The
EAT dismissed the claim on the basis that
a worker actually has to establish that
they were unable to take their holiday
pay because of their medical condition.
In this case no medical evidence was
produced by Mr Plumb and the Court
drew inferences from the fact that he
was able to continue working in another
weekend job. The EAT considered the
following issues:
• Does an employee on sick leave
need to establish that their sickness
prevented them from taking their
holiday?
On this issue the EAT held that it is not
a requirement for an employee on sick
leave to demonstrate that their sickness
prevented them from taking their holiday.
They could be unable or unwilling to take
it and should still be entitled to carry this
forward to a later date. It is important to
note that this case only concerned the
four weeks’ leave granted by Regulation
13 of The Working Time Regulations
1998 and did not concern additional
leave under Regulation 13a.
• Is there any limitation period for
which unused annual leave can be
carried forward?
The EAT concluded that such leave
cannot be carried forward indefinitely and
should be limited to an 18 month period
following the leave year in question.
This offers some certainty for employers
looking to calculate their potential
exposure with regard to employees’ claims
for accrued holiday pay.
This decision offers some valuable
guidance to employers as to how they
should treat holiday pay in situations
where an employee has been on sickness
absence for a significant period of
time. Both parties have been granted
permission to appeal to the Court of
Appeal and it will be i