Employees on Sick Leave Must Request Holiday

It is now accepted that employees on long term sick leave accrue annual holiday leave, but the EAT's finding in Fraser v St George's NHS Trust UKEAT/0456/10 develops this concept in an "employer friendly" way.  Here it was held that an employee who has been on long term sick leave is only entitled to holiday pay for previous years if they have made a specific request to their employer to take their holiday.   

The employee in this case went on long term sick leave between November 2005 and October 2008.  After her employment ended she was paid in lieu of untaken holiday in her final year of leave but not for the preceding two years.  She brought a claim for the unpaid holiday.

The EAT held that employees have a choice when on sick leave either to take holiday or to request it be deferred, but in the absence of such a request the holiday entitlement lapses. This was held to be consistent with the decision in Pereda v Madrid Movilidad SA C-277/08.