Asociación Nacional de Grandes Empresas de Distribución (ANGED) v Federación de Asociaciones Sindicales and ors
It is a truth universally acknowledged that as soon as one steps off a plane to begin that much anticipated holiday, the sneezing and coughing begins…
However, following the judgment of the ECJ, workers will no longer have to sacrifice time by the pool due to an ill-timed bout of the flu.
In ANGED, the ECJ held that the EU Working Time Directive (No. 2003/88) requires that a worker be “entitled to take paid annual leave, which coincides with a period of sick leave, at a later point in time, irrespective of the point at which the incapacity for work arose".
The claim was initiated by a Spanish trade union seeking a declaration that its workers were entitled to postpone their annual leave despite a clause to the contrary in their collective agreement. The Spanish High Court upheld their claim: on appeal at the Tribunal Supremo, the question of interpretation of Article 7(1) of the Working Time Directive was referred to the ECJ.
On handing down its judgment, the ECJ emphasised the importance of the principle of paid annual leave, highlighting the difference between annual leave for rest and relaxation, and sick leave for recuperation when a worker is otherwise unfit to work.