EU court rules firms must give workers paid annual leave

BRUSSELS: The European Union´s highest court ruled on Wednesday that employers must provide paid annual leave for employees in a case that could impact workers in the "gig" economy.
The case involved a salesman for The Sash Window Workshop Ltd in Britain employed from 1999 until 2012 on a self-employed commission-only contract with unpaid annual leave. The salesman took the company to court seeking payment for leave, taken and not paid as well as for days not taken.
A British court ruled that he was a "worker" under EU law, but UK judges asked the European Court of Justice whether the company was obliged to pay him for the leave he had not actually taken.
The EU court said it was a fundamental right for workers to be able to rest and that such a right would not be guaranteed if the salesman was forced to take unpaid leave and only then be able to bring action to claim payment. Companies could limit the accumulation of paid leave, with workers losing their right to leave if they did not take holidays within a given period.