Unused paid annual leave must also be paid in the event of voluntary resignation of the public employee. With this ruling from the European Court of Justice of 18 January 2024, according to the Consulcesi legal network, the scope of potential legal actions by public employees against companies has widened to thousands of possible new cases. “If companies do not adapt to the operational standards established by the EU Court of Justice – warns lawyer Francesco Del Rio of Consulcesi – the repercussions could be very serious with regards to the recognition of compensation for unused holidays by healthcare personnel” .
In fact – the Consulcesi lawyers recall in a note – the latest Anaao Assomed report reports over 5 million days of overdue holidays paid by doctors and healthcare managers. This means, on the basis of the latest rulings of the European Court, including the latest which includes voluntary resignations, that in the event of termination of the employment relationship the State would be faced with a potential outlay of over 600 million euros, just in the healthcare sector. “The EU ruling – remarks Del Rio – broadens the pool of potential applicants to also include voluntary resignations. This innovation, associated with previous rulings on workers' rights, ensures that even those who retired 10 years ago due to voluntary resignation there is still time to claim compensation for the damage.”
Last January 18 – we read in the note – the European Court of Justice published a ruling with which it once again intervened regarding the correct interpretation that all member states, in particular Italy directly involved in the proceedings just concluded, must refer to the legislation community on financial compensation for paid annual leave not taken by the public employee at the end of his employment relationship. The case starts from the request presented by a former public employee of the Municipality of Copertino who, challenging the refusal made by the institution to his request for payment of compensation for untaken holidays, having voluntarily resigned, had taken him to court insisting on the acceptance of his financial claim.
From 2018 until today – Consulcesi points out – the European Court of Justice has been incessantly engaged in a work of correct interpretation of the fundamental principles established by Directive 2003/88 and, more specifically, of those relating to the methods governing the legitimate enjoyment of annual leave , including the recognition of any replacement allowances in the event of non-use, therefore the cases related to paid annual leave that come to the Court are constantly increasing. As regards the right times and methods to request compensation, the EU Court stated that, since it is a right – i.e. that of requesting the monetization of unused holidays – which arises only when the employment relationship ends , before the legal prohibition was in force, the limitation period can only start to run from when the doctor retired or, for other reasons, ended his employment contract and not from the year to which the days of holidays not taken. This means that even those who terminated their employment relationship many years ago, and up to the maximum limitation period of 10 years, can still legitimately claim payment of compensation for vacation days accrued during work and not taken for organizational reasons.
For years, Consulcesi has been carrying out a series of legal battles to enforce, in the widest European context, the rights of those who have sacrificed their holidays out of a sense of responsibility towards their work. The group is in particular at the side of doctors and healthcare professionals who, faced with the closure attitude of their former companies, have managed to obtain largely favorable sentences in a short time, with consequent recognition of excellent economic results. Thanks to the successes obtained in the cases sponsored by the network's lawyers, clients have already received compensation ranging from 20 thousand to over 55 thousand euros for each position with the further reimbursement of litigation costs incurred for the defense, and up to now they have been recovered over 200 thousand euros in favor of doctors who asked Consulcesi for help, the note reports.
In this regard – he concludes – for all Consulcesi Club customers who have stipulated an employment contract with the National Health Service, currently terminated due to resignation, retirement or otherwise with a residual amount of holidays not taken during the relationship, a free detailed legal advice, with assessment of the prerequisites for submitting the monetization application and related economic quantification of the potentially claimable credit.
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