Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Section 87 makes provision for an amendment to the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 to bring it into line with rulings of the Court of Justice of the EU in the Schultz-Hof line of cases regarding how time spent on sick leave should be treated for the purposes of the accrual of annual leave. It will allow workers who are on long-term sick leave to accrue and retain annual leave for up to 15 months from the end of the year in which it accrued, thus, bringing the Organisation of Working Time Act into line with rulings of the Court of Justice of the EU. It is considered that the 15-month period strikes the right balance between respecting the entitlements of employees while minimising the costs to the Exchequer and to employers of bringing our legislation into line with EU law. These amendments will provide that an employee who leaves the employment and who accrued annual leave entitlements in accordance with the Schultz-Hof ruling will be entitled to payment in lieu of the untaken annual leave calculated on the same basis as if the employee had returned to work on the date of leaving the employment.

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