IZAZOVI U OSTVARIVANJU PRAVA NA GODIŠNJI ODMOR RADNIKA NA DUGOTRAJNOM BOLOVANJU U REPUBLICI HRVATSKOJ

Abstract

The right to paid annual leave is one of the fundamental rights in the employment relationship and as such is incorporated in a number of legal acts, both at the international and regional, aswell as national level. The purpose of this right is to enable the worker to rest from physicaland/or mental work, to enable him to enjoy relaxation and leisure, in order to restore his working abilities. The right to paid annual leave, in accordance with the practice of the Court of Justice of the European Union, is considered a particularly important principle of Community social law, which is why it must be recognized for every worker, regardless of their health status. However, in the Republic of Croatia, the realization of the right to paid annual leave for workers who were on long-term sick leave, was followed with significant difficulties after returning to work. The current Croatian Labor Law, in the context of the institution of transferring annual leave to the next calendar year, provisions of Article 84 states that a worker who, due to illness, does not use annual leave in full or in part in the calendar year in which it was earned, has the right to use it upon returning to work, and no later than June 30 of the following calendar year. The question arises, how will a worker who has spent two, three or more years on long-term sick leave fit into the aforementioned provision? Will this legal solution deprive him of the right to paid annual leave?

The aim of the paper is to analyze the relevant provisions of Croatian positive law regarding the right to paid annual leave and the possibility to transferring it, to correlate them with the relevant European directives and decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and to conclude on their compliance and impact on the position of workers and employers in the Republic of Croatia.