Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

Holidays with Pay Convention (Revised), 1970 (No. 132) - Finland (Ratification: 1990)

Article 12 of the Convention. Prohibition to relinquish or forgo the right to an annual holiday with pay. In its previous comment, the Committee noted that section 26(1) of the Annual Holidays Act, under which annual leave postponed due to incapacity for work may be replaced by monetary compensation, is inconsistent with the principle of the Convention that a cash allowance in lieu of leave is only permitted in the case of termination of employment. In its reply, the Government states that this provision can be applied only in situations in which the incapacity to work has continued for a long time, and therefore does not violate the employee’s right to paid leave. The Committee recalls, in this connection, that the Convention requires that any period of annual paid leave, which may not be taken (for instance due to sickness or injury), be deferred but not lost or compensated (except in the case of termination of employment). The Committee also recalls that in several recent judgments (Case C-350/06 Schultz Hoff, Case C-78/11 Anged) the European Court of Justice has reaffirmed the inalienable character of the workers’ right to an annual holiday with pay and has clearly established that an employee who has not had the opportunity to take the leave cannot have the leave extinguished even if any carry over period has expired. The Committee wishes to emphasize the importance of workers effectively enjoying their right to a period of relaxation and leisure every year. The Committee accordingly requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that monetary compensation may be offered in lieu of annual leave only in the case of any unused leave upon termination of employment.