Prior caselaw has established that workers must be permitted to carry over statutory holiday entitlement to a new leave year where they have been unable or unwilling to take it due to sick leave. The European Court of Justice has now confirmed that this only applies to the 4 week entitlement provided for by the EU Working Time Directive, and not to any additional entitlement provided for under domestic law.
This accords with a 2013 ruling of the Employment Appeal Tribunal that the carryover requirement does not apply to the additional 1.6 week entitlement in the UK (Sood Enterprises v Healy, UKEATS/0015/12/BI). Employers do not have to permit carryover of this additional entitlement unless there is a contractual obligation to do so. (Terveys- ja sosiaalialan neuvottelujarjesto (TSN) ry v Hyvinvointialan liitto ry and Auto- ja Kuljetusalan Tyontekijaliitto AKT ry v Satamaoperaattorit ry (Joined cases C-609/17 and C-610/17))
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