Holiday pay when sick

Inland Revenue v Ainsworth
(4th February 2004, Burton P.)

Readers will be aware of the (some would say, bizarre) case of Kigass Aero Components v Brown [2002] IRLR 312, in which the EAT held that workers on long-term sick leave are entitled to four weeks' paid holiday under the Working Time Regulations 1998, even if they have exhausted all their entitlement to contractual pay.

In Inland Revenue v Ainsworth, a different division of the EAT was invited to overturn Kigass (and similar cases). Burton P. declined to overturn them, on the basis that it was inappropriate for the EAT to overturn one of its own recent decisions. However, he made it clear he thought there were complex arguments on both sides and gave permission to proceed to the Court of Appeal. I understand the Court of Appeal will be dealing with this point relatively quickly.