Article 31 - Fair and just working conditions
Key facts of the case:
Reference for a preliminary ruling – Protection of the safety and health of workers – Organisation of working time – Article 31(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – Directive 2003/88/EC – Article 7 – Right to paid annual leave – SARS-Cov-2 virus – Quarantine measure – Impossible to carry over the paid annual leave granted for a period coinciding with a period of quarantine.
Outcome of the case:
On those grounds, the Court (First Chamber) hereby rules:
Article 7(1) of Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time and Article 31(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union
must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation or practice that does not permit the carry-over of days of paid annual leave which were granted to a worker who is not sick in respect of a period coinciding with a period of quarantine ordered by a public authority on account of that worker having been in contact with a person infected with a virus.
17 In those circumstances, the Arbeitsgericht Ludwigshafen am Rhein (Labour Court, Ludwigshafen am Rhein) decided to stay the proceedings and to refer the following question to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling: ‘Must Article 7(1) of Directive [2003/88] and the right to an annual period of paid leave set out in Article 31(2) of [the Charter] be interpreted as precluding national legislation or practice on the granting of annual leave to workers under which the obligation to grant an entitlement to leave is fulfilled even if the worker is affected by an unforeseeable event during an authorised period of leave, such as, in the present case, government-ordered quarantine, and is therefore prevented from exercising that entitlement in full?’
...
21 In the present case, by its question, as worded in the order for reference, the referring court, by seeking an interpretation of Article 7(1) of Directive 2003/88 and Article 31(2) of the Charter, wishes to know whether an unforeseeable event that occurs during the period of annual leave, such as quarantine ordered by the public authorities, enables workers to have their leave days carried over. In so doing, it states the reasons why the Court’s answer to the question referred is necessary for the purpose of resolving the dispute in the main proceedings.
25 By its question, the referring court asks, in essence, whether Article 7(1) of Directive 2003/88 and Article 31(2) of the Charter must be interpreted as precluding national legislation or practice that does not permit the carry-over of days of paid annual leave which were granted to a worker who is not sick in respect of a period coinciding with a period of quarantine ordered by a public authority on account of that worker having been in contact with a person infected with a virus.
27 The right to paid annual leave is, as a principle of EU social law, particularly important, as is apparent from the fact that it is expressly enshrined in Article 31(2) of the Charter. It should be recalled that Article 7(1) of Directive 2003/88 reflects and gives concrete expression to that fundamental right to an annual period of paid leave, as enshrined in the Charter. While Article 31(2) of the Charter guarantees the right of every worker to an annual period of paid leave, Article 7(1) of Directive 2003/88 implements that principle by fixing the duration of that period (see, to that effect, judgment of 22 September 2022, Fraport and St. Vincenz-Krankenhaus, C‑518/20 and C‑727/20, EU:C:2022:707, paragraph 26 and the case-law cited).
29 In the third place, as regards the objective referred to in Article 7(1) of Directive 2003/88 and Article 31(2) of the Charter, it should be recalled that, according to settled case-law, the right to paid annual leave has the dual purpose of enabling the worker both to rest from carrying out the work he or she is required to do under his or her contract of employment and to enjoy a period of relaxation and leisure (judgment of 25 June 2020, Varhoven kasatsionen sad na Republika Bulgaria and Iccrea Banca, C‑762/18 and C‑37/19, EU:C:2020:504, paragraph 57 and the case-law cited).
46 Having regard to the foregoing considerations, the answer to the question referred is that Article 7(1) of Directive 2003/88 and Article 31(2) of the Charter must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation or practice that does not permit the carry-over of days of paid annual leave which were granted to a worker who is not sick in respect of a period coinciding with a period of quarantine ordered by a public authority on account of that worker having been in contact with a person infected with a virus.
