On 9 November 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Article 7 of Directive 2003/88 on certain aspects of the organisation of working time, in particular annual leave, does not preclude national rules or practices that limit the entitlement to paid annual leave once an employee has returned to work after a long period of incapacity.
Long periods of illness, even consecutive ones can result in a worker's absence, which defeats the purpose of the leave itself, namely to help the worker rest and benefit from a period of relaxation.
Consequently, on his return, the employee has no absolute right to take it.
On 8 June 2023, the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (CJEU), in case C‑218/22, ruled that Member States may limit the monetisation of paid annual leave not taken at the end of the employment relationship.
Member States may impose conditions on workers exercising the right to annual leave to encourage their actual use instead of their monetisation.
The preference for the actual taking off paid annual leave is justified by the institution's purpose, which is to allow the worker to rest from the performance of the tasks assigned to him under his employment contract and benefit from a period of relaxation and recreation.