The Review has joined forces with local solicitors Debenhams Ottaway to offer our readers the best legal advice.

Below Louise Attrup, partner at Debenhams Ottaway Debenhams Ottaway answers, a reader's question.

Question: I arranged with my employer to take a week’s holiday which I planned to spend at home. I went down with a bug and spent the whole week in bed. My employer says that he will nevertheless treat the time off as holiday and not sick leave. Can he do this?

Answer Louise Attrup, partner at Debenhams Ottaway, responds: The law on holidays and sick leave has developed significantly in recent years.

Last year, the European Court of Justice ruled that where a worker’s pre-arranged statutory holiday coincides with a period of sick leave then the worker should be able to treat that time as sick leave and choose another time to take the holiday.

This was a European case based on the European Working Time Directive. The rights of workers in Great Britain stem from the Working Time Regulations which do not appear to allow statutory holiday to be re-scheduled in the event of sickness. Despite this and following the spirit of European law, in a recent case decided by the Employment Tribunal in this country, the Tribunal found in favour of a worker whose pre-arranged holiday coincided with a period of sick leave and said that he should be allowed to take his holiday at a later date. Perhaps this decision will persuade your employer to allow you to take your week’s holiday later in the year.

Since Employment Tribunal decisions are not binding on other Tribunals or on higher Courts, and the Working Time Regulations appear not to require employers to allow employees to defer statutory holiday in the event of sickness, there is continuing uncertainty on this issue.

Employees or employers who find themselves faced with this situation should check with their lawyer to find out if there have been any developments in this fast moving area of law.