UK: Statutory holiday - public sector workers can rely directly on EU directive

The ECJ has ruled that Article 7(1) of the Working Time Directive providing a right to 4 weeks' leave has direct effect.  This means that public sector workers should be able to enforce their EU-derived holiday rights directly, regardless of how the UK regulations are interpreted.

This is significant given the uncertainty over whether UK law can be construed in accordance with the EU position on carry-over of holiday by sick employees.

The ECJ ruling also lends support to the view that the EU caselaw on carryover need only apply to the minimum 4 weeks' leave, and not to the additional 1.6 weeks provided by UK law.  This is the position seemingly taken by the government in its current proposals to amend UK working time law, but contrasts with the approach taken by a recent tribunal in Adams v Harwich International Port, which held that sick workers can carry over all 5.6 weeks' statutory holiday to the next leave year.  (Dominguez v Centre informatique du Centre Ouest Atlantique, ECJ)