22) In those circumstances, doubting whether that national case-law is compatible with Article 31 of the Charter and Article 7 of Directive 2003/88, the Corte suprema di cassazione (Supreme Court of Cassation) decided, by decision of 27 November 2018, received at the Court on 21 January 2019, to stay the proceedings and to refer the following question for a preliminary ruling:

‘Must Article 7(2) of Directive [2003/88] and Article 31(2) of the [Charter], taken separately where applicable, be interpreted as precluding provisions of national legislation or national practices pursuant to which, once the employment relationship has ended, the right to payment of an allowance for paid leave accrued but not taken (and for a legal arrangement, such as “abolished public holidays”, which is comparable in nature and function to paid annual leave) does not apply in a context where the worker was unable to take the leave before the employment relationship ended because of an unlawful act (a dismissal established as unlawful by a national court by means of a final ruling ordering the retroactive restoration of the employment relationship) attributable to the employer, for the period between that unlawful act by the employer and the subsequent reinstatement only?’

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37) First, as is apparent from the wording of Article 7(1) of Directive 2003/88 itself, every worker is entitled to paid annual leave of at least four weeks, a right which, according to the Court’s established case-law, must be regarded as a particularly important principle of EU social law. ( 9 ) Moreover, that right, which is enjoyed by all workers, as an essential principle of EU social law reflected in Article 7 of Directive 93/104 and Article 7 of Directive 2003/88, is now expressly enshrined as a fundamental right in Article 31(2) of the Charter. ( 10 ) It follows, therefore, that the right to paid annual leave should not be given a restrictive interpretation. ( 11 )

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53) In the light of the foregoing considerations, I therefore conclude that, where national legislation provides that a worker unlawfully dismissed must be reinstated in his or her work, Article 7(1) of Directive 2003/88 and Article 31(2) of the Charter preclude national legislation or case-law or practices, according to which that worker is not entitled to paid annual leave for the period from the date of dismissal until the date of reinstatement.

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54) By the second question in Case C‑762/18 and the question in Case C‑37/19, the referring courts ask, in substance, whether Article 7(2) of Directive 2003/88 and Article 31(2) of the Charter must be interpreted as precluding national legislation or case-law or national practices, according to which, once the employment relationship has ended, the right to the payment of an allowance for paid leave accrued but not taken does not apply in a context where the worker was unable to take the leave before the employment relationship ended because of a dismissal established as unlawful by a national court ordering the retroactive restoration of the employment relationship for the period between that unlawful act by the employer and the subsequent reinstatement only.

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58) As I have already made clear, the answer to the first question should be that a worker unlawfully dismissed and subsequently reinstated must be entitled to paid annual leave for the period from the date of dismissal until the date of reinstatement. It follows, therefore, that the answer to the second question is necessarily, that Article 7(2) of Directive 2003/88 and Article 31(2) of the Charter must be interpreted in turn as precluding national legislation or case-law or national practices, according to which, once the employment relationship has ended, the right to payment of an allowance for paid leave earned but not taken is denied in a context where the worker was unable to take the leave before the employment relationship ended because of a dismissal established as unlawful by a national court ordering the retroactive restoration of the employment relationship for the period between that unlawful act committed by the employer and the subsequent reinstatement only.

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62) Accordingly, in the light of the foregoing considerations, I propose that the Court should answer to the questions referred by the Rayonen Sad Haskovo (Haskovo District Court, Bulgaria) and the Corte suprema di cassazione (Supreme Court of Cassation, Italy) as follows:

1. Where national legislation provides that a worker unlawfully dismissed must be reinstated in his or her work, Article 7(1) of Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time and Article 31(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union must be interpreted as precluding national legislation or case-law or practices according to which that worker is not entitled to paid annual leave for the period from the date of dismissal until the date of reinstatement.
2. Article 7(2) of Directive 2003/88 and Article 31(2) of the Charter must be interpreted as precluding national legislation or case-law or national practices, according to which, once the employment relationship has ended, the right to payment of an allowance for paid leave earned but not taken is denied in a context where the worker was unable to take the leave before the employment relationship ended because of a dismissal established as unlawful by a national court ordering the retroactive restoration of the employment relationship for the period between that unlawful act committed by the employer and the subsequent reinstatement only, except for any period during which that worker was employed by a different employer.