As I may have mentioned a million times, one of the things I hate most about running a business is HR. That’s why my HR woman is worth her weight in gold – a bit like Mr Muscle, she loves the jobs I hate (she’s also highly corrosive, like Mr Muscle, but that’s by the by). And this week, when I belatedly read about this new EU law that will allow staff to claim back holiday days if they end up being ill, I was reminded exactly why it annoys me so much.

Has there ever been a more ridiculous, bone-headed, exploitable (?) employment law ruling than this? Even by the usual standards of the Brussels straight banana brigade, this really takes the biscuit. Are they seriously telling me that one of my staff can come back from a fortnight in Magaluf and swear blind that they spent a day in bed racked by the screaming abdabs, and I’d be compelled to reinstate a day of their holiday (which incidentally, I think they’d even be allowed to carry over into the next year if they wanted to)? As if people aren’t going to take advantage of that…

I know sick leave is always a matter of trust, to some extent. Unless you go round and take someone’s temperature, you’re going to have to take their word for it that they’re poorly. But although I know my staff are, on the whole, a pretty trustworthy lot, there are always some people who are off more than others, or catch a cold in a stiff breeze, or seem to take a suspiciously high number of Fridays and Mondays off. At least when they have to call in sick to their line manager, it feels like there’s some degree of scrutiny on the day itself – if we’re talking about sickness on holiday, that’s a very different kettle of fish.

I remember it happened to me once; I was at a wedding on the Saturday, so I took the Monday off so I wouldn’t have to rush back on the Sunday. But I managed to catch some kind of horrid lurgy from some screaming brat at the reception, and ended up spending the whole day in bed. Still, I didn’t feel robbed. It’s just tough luck, isn’t it?

Whereas nowadays my younger staff will be able to jet off to Ibiza for an all-nighter and then claim their next-day hangover as a sick day. And I’m not even sure I could argue even if they were totally honest about it (well, they are ill, right?). Which brings me to another reason why this is a stupid idea: presumably you’re actually more likely to get ill by going on holiday than you would be at home, one way or the other – so why should the two be treated equally?

Either way, this strikes me as a potential nightmare for small business owners. And it might be bad for staff, too, because I’m sure some people will make their sickness policies less generous as a result. You really do wonder if anyone in Brussels ever actually thinks this stuff through...