BU v Comune di Copertino

This request for a preliminary ruling concerns the interpretation of Article 7 of Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time (OJ 2003 L 299, p. 9), and of Article 31(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (‘the Charter’).

The request has been made in proceedings between BU, a former public servant of the Comune di Copertino (Municipality of Copertino, Italy), and the Comune di Copertino concerning the refusal to pay BU an allowance in lieu of paid annual leave not taken on the date of the termination of the employment relationship as a result of BU’s voluntary resignation in order to take early retirement.

The Court held that that Article 7 of Directive 2003/88 and Article 31(2) of the Charter must be interpreted as precluding national legislation which, for reasons relating to the control of public expenditure and the organisational needs of the public employer, prohibits the payment to a worker of an allowance in lieu of the days of paid annual leave acquired, during both the last year of employment and previous years, which were not taken at the date on which the employment relationship ended, where that worker voluntarily terminates that employment relationship and has not shown that he or she had not taken his or her leave during that employment relationship for reasons beyond his or her control.

The full judgement as well as the opinion of Advocate General Ćapeta are available below.