Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2014:1753
Date: 2014-06-12
Language of the case: French
Subject matter: Social Policy;Fundamental rights;Charter of Fundamental Rights
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: France

Summary — Judgment of the Court (First Chamber), 26 March 2015 1. Social policy — Protection of the safety and health of workers — Organisation of working time — Right to paid annual leave — Definition of worker — Disabled person admitted to a work rehabilitation centre — Included — Verification a matter for the national court (Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Art. 31(2); European Parliament and Council Directive 2003/88, Art. 7)) 2. Social policy — Protection of the safety and health of workers — Organisation of working time — Right to paid annual leave — National legislation incompatible with EU law —Duty of the national courts to interpret national law in conformity with an EU directive — Limits — Whether the Member State concerned is obliged to make good loss caused to individuals (Art. 4(3), TEU; European Parliament and Council Directive 2003/88, Art. 7) 1. The term ‘worker’, within the meaning of Article 7 of Directive 2003/88/EC concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time and of Article 31 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, must be interpreted to the effect that it may include a person admitted to a work rehabilitation centre who, as a disabled person, is unable to work in normal conditions. The activities carried out at that centre by disabled persons do not in fact appear to be purely marginal and ancillary, inasmuch as they are not created for the sole purpose of providing an occupation, derivative if necessary, for the persons concerned, but offer a certain economic value too, by means of work adapted to the capabilities of those persons. Those activities make it possible to give value to the productivity of severely disabled persons, however reduced it may be, while at the same time ensuring the social protection they are entitled to. The national court must in particular ascertain whether the services actually performed by the person concerned can be regarded as forming part of the normal labour market. For that purpose, account may be taken not only of the statute and practices of the centre concerned in its role as a care facility and of the various aspects of the aim of its social aid programme, but also of the nature of the services and the manner in which they are performed. (see paras 39, 40, 42, 43, operative part) 2. See the text of the decision. (see para. 48)