European Court of Justice: Holiday pay

In a nutshell, two decisions by the ECJ on holiday pay.

ECJ 12 June 2014: Holiday pay

Outstanding holiday accrued during an employee’s long-term sick leave must automatically be paid in lieu to his heirs if the employment contract ends by the employee’s death. In that specific case, the family was entitled to the payment of 140.5 days of paid leave outstanding (C-83/2014).

Indeed, ECJ previously ruled (20 January 2009) that an employee’s annual leave continues to accrue during his sick leave and may not be extinguished at the end of a leave year or the carry over period.

In Luxembourg, it created an exception to art. L. 233-10 labour code.

ECJ 22 May 2014: Holiday pay

Outstanding holiday must take into account both base salary and commissions on sales, though sales cannot be generated on holidays. The reference period to consider for the purpose of calculating the commission is up to national law/courts (C-539/12).

 

In Luxembourg, that reference period is of either 3 or 12 months (art. L. 233-14 labour code).