Luxembourg, 19/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - In a press release, the Court of Justice announces that Advocate General Antonio Tizzano believes the British legislation, whereby a worker is entitled to leave provided that he or she has been continuously employed for 13 weeks by the same employer, runs counter to the provisions of the 1993 European working time directive. According to the Advocate General, the right to paid leave is a fundamental social right, today officially confirmed in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, proclaimed in Nice on 7 December 2000. Mr Tizzano adds that the right to paid leave does not only concern the individual worker but also corresponds to a general social interest for the health and safety of workers in general. It is therefore an automatic and unconditional right which does not fall within the derogations allowed for in the directive in other circumstances, he continued.
The case was referred by the High Court in Britain which was to rule on action brought by a broadcasting union, which claims transposition of the European directive is incorrect in so far as, according to British law, workers are not entitled to paid leave if they have not worked a minimum of 13 weeks with the same employer.