07 April 2004

KEEBLE HAWSON

www.keeblehawson.co.uk

E-MAIL UPDATE

Holidays and Maternity Leave

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has recently made a decision in this
area in a case which was first referred to it by the Spanish courts in 2001.
In Maria Paz Merino Gomez v Continental Industrias del Caucho the Applicant
had applied to take a period of annual leave immediately following her
maternity leave. However, her maternity leave coincided with a period of
annual leave as specified in a collective agreement (i.e. a general
shutdown) and therefore her further request was denied.

The ECJ ruled that the Pregnant Workers Directive and the Working Time
Directive require that a pregnant worker be entitled to take her annual
leave at a time other than during her period of maternity leave. It also
confirmed that this principle should not be adjusted where the woman's
maternity leave coincides with a period of annual leave as specified in a
collective agreement. Effectively, this means that even though the rest of
the workforce would be required to take leave at a certain time a woman on
maternity leave at that time would be entitled to take the equivalent period
of leave at a different time.

Although this seems like a simple answer, after all women on maternity leave
should be entitled to annual leave as well, as they are two separate rights
to which all women are entitled, it does give rise to many questions
regarding its application to UK law. For instance, it is unclear what
happens where the period of maternity leave commences in one annual leave
year and extends into the next. The Working Time Regulations preclude a
worker from carrying over holiday entitlement from one year to the next and
therefore many women may lose some of their entitlement by virtue of the
fact that they cannot take it during their maternity leave. Following on
from the above case do employers have to allow women to carry leave
entitlement between years? However, it is suggested that if this is the case
it would be wise for an employer to encourage their employee to take
whatever annual leave is left for that particular year before the maternity
leave period commences.

For further information on this, or any other employment issue, please
contact:

Paul Grindley
0113 399 3494
paulgrindley@keeblehawson.co.uk <mailto:paulgrindley@keeblehawson.co.uk>

Sarah Hall
0114 290 6329
sarahhall@keeblehawson.co.uk <mailto:sarahhall@keeblehawson.co.uk>

Helena Tattersall
0113 399 3482
helenatattersall@keeblehawson.co.uk
<mailto:helenatattersall@keeblehawson.co.uk>

www.keeblehawson.co.uk

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