The amount of holidays or the calendar to take them is usually marked in the collective agreement or by the company itself. In general, full-time workers in Spain have two and a half days of vacation for each month worked, although the average is 25 days. Unlike other countries like France, where they enjoyed up to 32 days, or Slovenia with 29.
On the other hand, you have to know the difference between the types of days off. While some enjoy calendar days, which go from Monday to Sunday, others must take advantage of labor days, that is, without counting the weekly fines. The truth is that by law all workers have the right to paid annual vacations. But, what happens if we do not enjoy them in the corresponding year? Is it possible to leave them for the next one?
Some companies force their workers to lose those corresponding days at the end of the year, while others leave a period of time in the following year so that the employee can choose the days to go to the library. Now, a judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on September 22 has ruled on the matter. As they point out, they responded to two German judicial instances regarding citizens of that country who were denied financial compensation for vacation days not taken.
Retrieve vacation days from the previous year
So what happens with those unused days off? The truth is that it is not possible to receive money for them, as the lawyer pointed out for monetary compensation, since the right that the worker has to his vacations is inalienable and unavailable “.
Now the CJEU has indicated from this sentence that a German law that establishes a maximum period of three years for a worker to request the enjoyment of unsolicited vacation days on time, is contrary to European regulations. In Spain, article 38 of the Workers’ Statute states that the maximum period to request this accrual is 18 months from the end of the calendar year, when it coincides with a temporary disability. Therefore, companies that find themselves in this situation will have to demonstrate that it was the worker himself who did not want to exercise the right and refrained from requesting vacations.
For this reason, the communication by the employer to the members of his staff of his right to vacation becomes the key that can make him lose his right to enjoy paid vacations. The limitation period for vacations will only begin when the company notifies the employee “in good time and in an appropriate manner” of the possibility of exercising their right to rest.
There is only one exception in which unused vacations can be replaced by an economic benefit, and that is the termination of the contract. Consequently, when the employee has not been able to take the corresponding days off, the company will have to remunerate them in the liquidation.
