A decision of the High Court of Cassation and Justice (ÎCCJ) has been published in the Official Gazette, establishing, on a mandatory basis, that the three-year limitation period for the monetary compensation of unused annual leave starts to run from the termination of the employment relationship, rather than from an earlier date. Prior to termination, employees are not entitled to request monetary compensation, their only available option being to take the leave in kind. Accordingly, the limitation period cannot start running before the employee is in a position to effectively claim such compensation.
The High Court also clarified that, for any period exceeding the 18-month carry-over period provided under Article 146(2) and (3) of the Labour Code, the right to monetary compensation remains available where the employer has not effectively enabled the employee to take the leave. Conversely, no such right exists where the employee refrained from taking the leave despite having been given the opportunity to do so.
In reaching its decision, the High Court relied on the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), according to which the right to paid annual leave does not lapse at the end of the carry-over period where the employee was not in a position to exercise that right.