Sick on holiday? Get free advice!

Questioner

Hello, I am ill during my holiday and have to surrender vacation days for the scheduled construction holiday, is that allowed? I work in electrical engineering and am covered by the collective labor agreement for the small metal industry.

Lawyer

The employer may propose this. If you agree, they are vacation days. You do not have to agree to this. If you have reported sick on time, the sick days are illness and not vacation days. You can then still take those vacation days later. Please note that vacation days must be paid for 100%. Sick days only have to be paid for 70% by law, unless the union has made a better agreement in the collective labor agreement. If you have any further questions/problems, I advise you to contact a specialized labor lawyer. For a generalist (someone who does many areas of law), this is too complex.