CJEU, 18 January 2024, Case C-219/22, Comune di Copertino

Under Article 7 of Directive 2003/88/EC on the organisation of working time, a worker who has been unable to take all of their paid annual leave entitlements before their employment relationship comes to an end, is entitled to receive financial compensation for any days of paid annual leave not taken. The Court of Justice therefore ruled that EU law is not compatible with legislation preventing an employee from being paid such compensation when they voluntarily terminate their employment relationship, in this particular case in order to take early retirement. EU law is compatible with the loss of this right only in cases where the worker has refrained from taking his or her paid annual leave deliberately, despite the employer encouraging them to do so and informing them that they risk losing this leave at the end of a reference period or authorised carry-over period (see press release).