Heading to Copertino, in southern Italy. A public servant resigns to take early retirement. He has 79 days of unused, unpaid leave…
What should be done about the unused annual leave of an employee who has previously resigned?
For the Member States of the European Union, the interaction between national law and European law sometimes requires interpretation.
Last January*, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled: the right to paid leave is mandatory. Thus, an employee who was unable to take all their annual paid leave before resigning is entitled to financial compensation.
However, there is an exception. The obligation to compensate does not apply if the employee deliberately chose not to take their leave despite encouragement and information provided by the employer. It should be noted that the burden of proof lies with the employer.
In French law, this debate has not yet been raised!
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*CJEU, January 18, 2024, no. C 218/22
