April/May 2022 (vol. 18/6)

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EXPERT WITNESS: Time off  

The legal right to paid holidays 

Summary:

OH law expert Professor Diana Kloss explains why UK courts continue to recognise that paid holidays are essential to protect the health and safety of workers. 

At Christmas, I watched the film of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol for the umpteenth time and reflected that Bob Cratchit felt himself fortunate to receive one day’s unpaid holiday at Christmas. The right to paid holidays was until the 1990s dependent on the employee’s contract of employment and some employees still had no such right. Even bank holidays were not a universal legal right, other than for bank employees, though by then most employers did respect them, or at least grant an alternative day. 

Therefore, in introducing a legal right to rest breaks and 28 days’ paid holiday for all workers, the European Union’s 1993 Working Time directive (93/104/EC – later replaced by 2003/88/EC) represented a revolution in worker protection… 

Diana Kloss is a barrister, former part-time employment judge, Acas arbitrator and author 

 

Author: Kloss D

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Occupational Health at Work April/May 2022 (vol. 18/6) pp37-39

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