Carrying over sick workers’ annual leave

The recent Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) case of NHS Leeds v Larner, highlights the conflict between the European Court of Justice's (ECJ) position on holiday for workers on long-term sick leave and the UK’s Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR). Under the WTR, employees are entitled to 5.6 weeks’ annual leave in a leave year, of which up to 1.6 weeks may be carried forward to the following year, provided this is specified in the employment contract. The rest must be taken in the leave year in which it accrues.