Employees and employers in this country are always arguing about when vacation time expires or is statute-barred. However, the statute of limitations cannot expire or expire in the event of a long illness if employers have not fulfilled their obligations and warn of the loss, the Federal Labor Court has ruled.
According to a ruling by the Federal Labor Court, vacation does not automatically expire after three years. This applies if employers do not ask their employees to take their vacation in good time and warn them of an impending statute of limitations, the Federal Labor Court ruled in Erfurt on Tuesday (9 AZR 266/20).
His landmark judgment has an impact on many employees in Germany who are arguing about outstanding holiday entitlements, some of which go back years. It strengthens their position. The employer’s obligation to provide information also applies to employees who have been ill for a long time. Up to now, they were threatened with the loss of vacation 15 months after the end of the calendar year for the year of their illness. That no longer applies.
With their verdicts, the highest German labor judges implemented September decisions of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), after which employers must play an active role and are not allowed to watch as holiday entitlements expire. If they do not fulfill this obligation, the entitlement to paid time off remains.
Two women from North Rhine-Westphalia had complained to the highest courts in Germany and Europe. Among other things, it was about 101 open vacation days from several years and 14 days of vacation left after a long illness.
For the first time in February 2019, the Federal Labor Court laid down the obligations of employers when it comes to vacation – but only for the imminent loss of vacation entitlements. Employers were obliged by the federal labor courts to inform employees about their holiday entitlement, to ask them to take their remaining holiday and to point out a possible forfeiture. In short: you have to play an active role – lawyers speak of a duty to initiate or a duty to cooperate. After all, employers would also have an interest in not accumulating vacation time in companies. However, the federal labor judges left it open how to proceed in the event of an imminent statute of limitations or illness. That should now be decided in a binding manner.
The Federal Labor Court had already submitted the two cases from North Rhine-Westphalia to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg before its upcoming decision. He should examine whether European law allows a statute of limitations on holiday entitlement “if the employer has not actually enabled the employee to exercise his holiday entitlement by appropriate request and information”. The decision was clear: No, said the court in September. According to the ECJ, leave cannot become statute-barred or expire in the event of a long illness if employers have not fulfilled their obligations.
