Two decisions of the European Court of Justice under the Working Time Directive. The combined effect of the rulings in Stringer/Schulz-Hoff (January) and Pereda (September) considerably extends the rights of sick workers in the UK to statutory holidays. It is now clear that such holidays continue to accrue while a worker is on sick leave and can be taken concurrently with sick leave if the worker so chooses. 

In the public sector, workers can also carry forward their statutory holiday entitlement if they are unable to take it due to sickness. In the private sector the position is less certain, because of an express provision in the Working Time Regulations which, on the face of it, prevents workers from carrying forward holiday entitlement.

• The repeal of the statutory dispute resolution procedures. April’s repeal of the four year experiment that went wrong is one of the few employment law measures in recent years that has been universally welcomed. The new slimmed-down ACAS code of practice is not free from problems, but both employers and employees will be glad to see the back of the old regime. The transitional provisions have now largely unwound, though cases where the old rules apply will still be working their way through the system for while yet.

• The end of the Heyday litigation. The High Court’s decision in September means that the default retirement age of 65 has survived Heyday’s Challenge. It followed the decision of the European Court of Justice in March, which ruled that a national retirement exemption was in principle justifiable, but left it to the domestic courts to decide whether the justification test had been met. 

The High Court’s decision brings a welcome – if temporary – period of certainty.  Employers now know that compulsory retirements falling within the exemption can not be Challenged, provided the procedural requirements laid down by the Age Equality Regulations have been met.  As for the future, it seems likely that the Government’s review of the exemption next year will result in an increase in the age at which it applies, if not its complete abolition.