Rätten till årlig betald semester vid frånvaro på grund av sjukdom - en rättighet som erkänns i Sverige?
(2013) JURM02 20131Department of Law
- Abstract (Swedish)
- Det övergripande syftet med denna uppsats är att redogöra för den svenska rättens överensstämmelse med EU-rätten avseende sjukfrånvarande arbetstagares rätt till årlig betald semester. En av arbetstagarnas grundläggande sociala rättigheter är nämligen rätten till årlig betald semester som slås fast i rättsakter som härrör från FN, ILO, Europarådet och EU. Rätten till årlig betald semester utgör även en princip av särskild betydelse inom unionens sociala regelverk och slås dessutom fast i artikel 31 i EU-stadgan. Därutöver har EU antagit ett arbetstidsdirektiv i syfte att skydda arbetstagarnas hälsa och säkerhet. I direktivets artikel 7 sägs att alla arbetstagare har en rätt till fyra veckors årlig betald semester som inte får utbytas mot... (More)
- Det övergripande syftet med denna uppsats är att redogöra för den svenska rättens överensstämmelse med EU-rätten avseende sjukfrånvarande arbetstagares rätt till årlig betald semester. En av arbetstagarnas grundläggande sociala rättigheter är nämligen rätten till årlig betald semester som slås fast i rättsakter som härrör från FN, ILO, Europarådet och EU. Rätten till årlig betald semester utgör även en princip av särskild betydelse inom unionens sociala regelverk och slås dessutom fast i artikel 31 i EU-stadgan. Därutöver har EU antagit ett arbetstidsdirektiv i syfte att skydda arbetstagarnas hälsa och säkerhet. I direktivets artikel 7 sägs att alla arbetstagare har en rätt till fyra veckors årlig betald semester som inte får utbytas mot kontant ersättning förutom i de fall då anställningen avslutas.
EU-domstolen har i ett stort antal domar tolkat artikel 7 och rätten till årlig betald semester. Flera av dessa avgöranden berör frågor som direkt eller indirekt påverkar sjukfrånvarande arbetstagare. Av rättspraxisen framgår bl.a. att en sjukfrånvarande arbetstagare ska tjäna in årlig betald semester precis som om denne utfört arbete. Blir arbetstagaren sjuk under semestern ska arbetstagaren dessutom ha rätt att avräkna semesterdagarna för att kunna ta ut dem efter att ha tillfrisknat. Om arbetstagaren pga. sjukfrånvaro inte har kunnat utnyttja sin årliga betalda semester ska arbetstagaren ha rätt att överföra de outtagna dagarna. Först när anställningen avslutas får de outtagna semesterdagarna bytas mot kontant ersättning.
I Sverige kommer rätten till årlig betald semester till uttryck i semesterlagen. Flera av semesterlagens regler är semidispostiva. För en komplett bild av semesterregleringen i svensk rätt krävs därför att hänsyn även tas till kollektivavtalsregler. Semesterlagen ger inte alla arbetstagare en rätt till årlig betald semester. Istället undantas till viss del sjukfrånvarande arbetstagare. Detta är särskilt tydligt vid uträkningen av antalet betalda semesterdagar och vid beräkningen av semesterlönens storlek. Gemensamt för de undersökta kollektivavtalen är att de tillämpar regler som leder till samma eller förmånligare villkor för den sjukfrånvarande arbetstagaren. Av EU-domstolens rättspraxis följer emellertid att det inte är tillräckligt att rätten till fyra veckors årlig betald semester garanteras i kollektivavtal som inte omfattar alla arbetstagare. Därmed saknar de svenska kollektivavtals-bestämmelserna betydelse vid en granskning av om svensk rätt strider mot artikel 7 i arbetstidsdirektivet.
Som medlem i de internationella organisationerna är Sverige bunden av rätten till årlig betald semester. Dessutom har Sverige en skyldighet att implementera arbetstidsdirektivet på ett korrekt sätt. Semesterlagen kan emellertid kritiseras för att inte vara i överensstämmer med artikel 7 i arbetstidsdirektivet vad gäller sjukfrånvarande arbetstagare. Rätten till årlig betald semester vid frånvaro pga. sjukdom är därför en rättighet som inte erkänns i Sverige. (Less) - Abstract
- The overall purpose of this paper is to analyze if Swedish regulations are consistent with EU law in regards of workers being absent from work due to illness and their right to annual leave with pay. The right to paid annual leave is one of the fundamental social rights of workers and is enshrined in legislation arising from the UN, ILO, Council of Europe and the EU. The right to paid annual leave is a particularly important principle of the EU social regulations and is also regulated in article 31 of the EU Charter. In addition, the EU has adopted the Working Time Directive to protect workers' health and safety. In article 7 is stated that all workers have a right to four weeks annual leave with pay which may not be exchanged for cash,... (More)
- The overall purpose of this paper is to analyze if Swedish regulations are consistent with EU law in regards of workers being absent from work due to illness and their right to annual leave with pay. The right to paid annual leave is one of the fundamental social rights of workers and is enshrined in legislation arising from the UN, ILO, Council of Europe and the EU. The right to paid annual leave is a particularly important principle of the EU social regulations and is also regulated in article 31 of the EU Charter. In addition, the EU has adopted the Working Time Directive to protect workers' health and safety. In article 7 is stated that all workers have a right to four weeks annual leave with pay which may not be exchanged for cash, with the exception where the employment relationship is terminated.
The European Court has interpreted article 7 and the right to paid annual leave in several cases. Many of these rulings concern issues that directly or indirectly affect absent workers. From the case-law it is clear that an absent employee shall earn paid annual leave just as if work had been carried out. If the worker falls ill during the annual leave, the employee must also be entitled to deduct vacation days in order to be able to use them after having recovered. If the employee, due to being absent in the case of illness, was unable to use his paid annual leave, the worker shall have the right to transfer the unclaimed days. Only when the employment is terminated, can the unclaimed vacation days be exchanged for cash.
In Sweden, the right to paid annual leave is expressed in the Annual Leave Act. Several of the rules in this act are allowed to be replaced by regulations in collective agreements. Therefore the collective agreements must be taken into account to get the full picture of holiday settlement under Swedish law. The Swedish Annual Leave Act does not give all workers a right to paid annual leave. Instead, partially absent workers are excluded. This is particularly evident in the calculation of the number of days with paid leave and the calculation of the size of the holiday pay. Common for the analyzed collective agreements is that they apply to rules leading to the same or more favorable terms for the absent worker. The European Court has however held that it is not enough that the right to four weeks' paid annual leave is guaranteed by collective agreements as they do not cover all workers. Because of this, the Swedish collective agreements lack importance when examining whether Swedish law is contrary to article 7 of the Working Time Directive.
As a member of the international organizations, Sweden is bound to give every worker their right to paid annual leave. In addition, Sweden has an obligation to implement the Working Time Directive properly. The Annual Leave Act, however, can be criticized for not being in conformity with article 7 of the Working Time Directive in regard to an absent worker. Sick workers right to annual paid leave is therefore not recognized in Sweden. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/3801251
- author
- Kjellander, Jennie LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- The right to annual leave with pay in case of absence due to illness - a right recognized in Sweden?
- course
- JURM02 20131
- year
- 2013
- type
- H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
- subject
- keywords
- Arbetsrätt, semester, sjukfrånvarande
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 3801251
- date added to LUP
- 2013-06-04 08:51:45
- date last changed
- 2013-06-04 08:51:45
@misc{3801251,
abstract = {{The overall purpose of this paper is to analyze if Swedish regulations are consistent with EU law in regards of workers being absent from work due to illness and their right to annual leave with pay. The right to paid annual leave is one of the fundamental social rights of workers and is enshrined in legislation arising from the UN, ILO, Council of Europe and the EU. The right to paid annual leave is a particularly important principle of the EU social regulations and is also regulated in article 31 of the EU Charter. In addition, the EU has adopted the Working Time Directive to protect workers' health and safety. In article 7 is stated that all workers have a right to four weeks annual leave with pay which may not be exchanged for cash, with the exception where the employment relationship is terminated.
The European Court has interpreted article 7 and the right to paid annual leave in several cases. Many of these rulings concern issues that directly or indirectly affect absent workers. From the case-law it is clear that an absent employee shall earn paid annual leave just as if work had been carried out. If the worker falls ill during the annual leave, the employee must also be entitled to deduct vacation days in order to be able to use them after having recovered. If the employee, due to being absent in the case of illness, was unable to use his paid annual leave, the worker shall have the right to transfer the unclaimed days. Only when the employment is terminated, can the unclaimed vacation days be exchanged for cash.
In Sweden, the right to paid annual leave is expressed in the Annual Leave Act. Several of the rules in this act are allowed to be replaced by regulations in collective agreements. Therefore the collective agreements must be taken into account to get the full picture of holiday settlement under Swedish law. The Swedish Annual Leave Act does not give all workers a right to paid annual leave. Instead, partially absent workers are excluded. This is particularly evident in the calculation of the number of days with paid leave and the calculation of the size of the holiday pay. Common for the analyzed collective agreements is that they apply to rules leading to the same or more favorable terms for the absent worker. The European Court has however held that it is not enough that the right to four weeks' paid annual leave is guaranteed by collective agreements as they do not cover all workers. Because of this, the Swedish collective agreements lack importance when examining whether Swedish law is contrary to article 7 of the Working Time Directive.
As a member of the international organizations, Sweden is bound to give every worker their right to paid annual leave. In addition, Sweden has an obligation to implement the Working Time Directive properly. The Annual Leave Act, however, can be criticized for not being in conformity with article 7 of the Working Time Directive in regard to an absent worker. Sick workers right to annual paid leave is therefore not recognized in Sweden.}},
author = {{Kjellander, Jennie}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Rätten till årlig betald semester vid frånvaro på grund av sjukdom - en rättighet som erkänns i Sverige?}},
year = {{2013}},
}