c) Carry-over in case of sick leave
Where the worker has been sick during part or all of the leave year, he or she may not have been able to take paid annual leave, although still entitled. As stated above, while the Court has held that ‘the positive effect of paid annual leave for the safety and health of the worker is deployed fully if it is taken in the year prescribed for that purpose, namely the current year’, it has nevertheless taken the view that ‘that period did not lose his interest in this respect if it is taken during a later period’ (337). Therefore, where a worker who has been on sick leave for all or part of the leave year has not had the opportunity to take the paid annual leave, the Court has held that the right to paid annual leave cannot lapse at the end of the reference period (338) but that the worker should be allowed to carry it over, by scheduling it if necessary outside the reference period for annual leave (339). Member States may limit the period in which paid annual leave can be carried over (340). The Court has acknowledged that the right to the accumulation of entitlements to paid annual leave acquired during incapacity for work is not unlimited (341). However, the Court has also held that ‘any carry-over period must be substantially longer than the reference period in respect of which it is granted’ (342). It has therefore held that a carry-over period of 9 months, i.e. shorter than the reference period to which it relates, did not ensure the positive effect of paid annual leave as a rest period and therefore could not be used to determine the expiry of the entitlement to paid annual leave (343). By contrast, it accepted a carry-over period of 15 months (344). Finally, the Court has clarified that when Member States decide to grant paid annual leave in addition to the four weeks provided for by the Directive, they are not obliged to provide for a carry-over of any such additional leave, since that additional leave (beyond four weeks) is not covered by the Directive (345).
Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.