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Worker Given 8yrs Holiday Pay!

19/08/2010

A recent Employment Tribunal case should act as a wake up call to many employers, and a reminder to workers, about their rights.

In this case the worker had been unfit to work and mainly wheelchair bound and unable to walk more than a few steps at a time. He was off work for eight years before his employer eventually terminated his employment.

A recent European legal case has confirmed the worker is entitled to be paid for all of the holidays he accrued but was not able to take, due to sickness.

John Hassells, Partner and Head of employment says “in the past, many employers may have been reluctant to dismiss an employee on long-term sick leave, perhaps because the employee had exhausted any sick pay and was not costing the business anything.”

Hassells goes on to say “on top of the holiday costs, an employee on long-term sick leave is probably disabled under the Disability Discrimination Act. This means the employer must also make reasonable adjustments to avoid discrimination claims”.

Hassells concludes “employers that fail to understand their obligations towards long-term sick employees, in terms of disability discrimination and accrual of holiday pay, are taking a risk that they will be required to pay substantial sums of compensation to employees, months or even years later”.

For more information on the above or any other employment law issue contact John Hassells, Partner and Head of Employment.

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