Summer is approaching, and the summer holiday season is just around the corner. But what happens if an employee becomes sick just before or during their vacation? As an employer, it is important to be familiar with the applicable rules in order to handle such situations correctly. The Holiday Act grants employees certain rights when illness and vacation coincide.
The Holiday Act largely protects employees’ vacation days in the event of sickness, but the rules depend on when the sickness occurs. It is necessary to distinguish between sickness before the vacation starts and sickness that arises during the vacation period. In both situations, special conditions apply that in several respects differ from the ordinary rules on sick leave.
Sickness before the vacation starts
If an employee is sick before the vacation begins, they have the right to postpone the entire vacation to later in the vacation year. The employee generally must choose between taking the vacation as scheduled or postponing the whole period. However, a partial postponement may be agreed with the employer. The employee must submit the claim no later than the last working day prior to the start of the vacation period.
Sickness during the vacation
What if the employee becomes ill after the vacation has already started? The employee may then demand to have a corresponding number of vacation days replaced for the period covered by the sick leave. The employee is entitled to take those days later in the vacation year. In other words, illness during vacation does not mean that vacation days are lost. The claim must be submitted without undue delay after work has been resumed.
Conditions for postponing the vacation
Certain key conditions must be met in both cases. Incapacity for work must be documented by a medical certificate, and self-certification is not sufficient, including for absences of three days or less.
In addition, the employee must be 100 percent on sick leave; partial sick leave does not give a right to postpone vacation.
It is also worth noting that these rights apply only to the employee’s own illness. Illness in family members does not provide grounds for changing or postponing vacation that has already been scheduled.
