Ben Willmott, Senior Public Policy Adviser of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, has taken the side of the employers and questioned the practicality of a recent judgment passed at the European Court of Justice. The particular ruling has made employees privileged to get compensatory leave for the days lost due to sickness while on a long leave.

The ruling may be considered as an attempt to benefit the employees, but in practical terms, it will be very difficult to implement it without risking unethical practices due to loopholes in the judgment. From the employers’ point of view, it is practically impossible to verify the authenticity of the employee’s sickness claim. Again, since the employer is already allowing sick pay schemes, he will not be willing to consider sympathetically if the employee who had really been sick demands extra sick leave. This will definitely prompt the employers to minimise their financial loss by opting for Statutory Sick Pay schemes.

In a lighter vein, one may visualise an employee enthusiastic to go on vacation and deliberately falling sick with a stomach upset or a bad flu and still be quite happy because he will get compensatory sick leave. Another employee may simply put on a nice act to convince his employer that he is sick, and will continue to enjoy the vacation smug in his confidence that extra leave is waiting for him when he resumes work. On the other hand, the employer will automatically try to guard himself and reconsider the benefits he allows his employees while they are on duty.

The CIPD Certificate in Employment Relations, Law and Practice provides a firm foundation in all the areas of HR and employment law. It provides a comprehensive understanding of the law to allow organisation’s to set their own policies and procedures in context.

With all due respect to the court and the lawyers, one is forced to question the viability of such a ruling, which was passed for the benefit of the employees but may not have any favourable consequence.