The People Bulletin

The long-running case of HMRC v Stringer regarding whether workers can continue to accrue and can take holiday under the Working Time Regulations 1998 during sickness absence has culminated in a decision from the House of Lords on 10 June 2009.

The main issues of the case centred around:

1. Are workers entitled to take paid statutory holiday while they are on sick leave; and
2. On termination of employment, are workers entitled to be paid in lieu of their full untaken statutory holiday entitlement even if they have beeen off sick for the whole or part of a holiday year?

The House of Lords overturned an earlier decision of the Court of Appeal, reinstating the decision of the EAT, which held that a worker who is absent on sick leave continues to be entitled to statutory holiday under the WTR and to a payment lieu of untaken holiday on termination.

Employment law solicitors DLA Piper have a useful summary of the judgment along with its implications for deductions from wages on their website.

http://www.dlapiper.com/de/global/publications/detail.aspx?pub=4307

The actual judgment can be found at

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldjudgmt/jd090610/string-1.htm