4. Other types of leave at national level

Where workers are entitled to other forms of leave under national legislation, the purpose of the leave is the critical factor in judging how to handle any overlap with paid annual leave (347). In the case of ‘convalescence leave’, the Court held that the considerations held for sick leave were applicable, and established the principle that where the purposes of the leave granted at national level and that of paid annual leave differ, there is an obligation to grant the worker concerned a different period of annual leave (348). Nevertheless the Court considered that in the case of a specific type of leave granted by national law, it was for the national courts to determine whether the purpose of that right was different from the purpose of the right to paid annual leave, as interpreted by the Court and in light of its guidance and the factors at national level governing the granting of the leave (349). Member States may grant to workers paid special leave which enables them to meet specific needs or obligations that require their personal presence such as, for instance, marriage, the birth of a child, hospitalization, the death of a close relative, or the performance of representative trade-union functions. The Court ruled that such special leave does not fall within the scope of the Working Time Directive, but rather of the exercise, by a Member State, of its own competences (350).

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.