Where a worker is unable to take annual leave due to long-term sickness absence, he accumulates the right to take that leave (or pay in lieu if his employment ends) on his return to work. It is not, in an Advocate General's opinion, a breach of EU law to provide that such a right to take accrued leave expires after a minimum period of 18 months following the return to work.

Editors note: This Advocate General's opinion is available only in the original French text.