E/C.12/GC/23 Leave due to illness or other justified reasons should not be deducted from paid annual leave. 42. Part-time workers should receive paid annual leave equivalent to that of comparable full-time workers and proportionate to hours of work. A failure to include part-time workers in the scope of legislation will lead to inequality between men and women where a higher proportion of women rely on part-time work, for example, when returning to work after maternity leave. 43. The timing for taking paid annual leave should be subject to a negotiated decision between the employer and the worker; however, legislation should set a minimum period of ideally two weeks of uninterrupted paid annual leave. Workers may not relinquish such leave, including in exchange for compensation. Upon termination of employment, workers should receive the period of annual leave outstanding or alternative compensation amounting to the same level of pay entitlement or holiday credit. 44. Legislation should identify other forms of leave, in particular entitlements to maternity, paternity and parental leave, to leave for family reasons and to paid sick leave. Workers should not be placed on temporary contracts in order to be excluded from such leave entitlements. 6. Paid public holidays 45. Workers should benefit from a set number of public holidays with payment of wages equivalent to those for a normal working day. Workers who have to work on public holidays should receive at least the same wage as on a normal working day, as well as compensatory leave corresponding to the time worked. The setting of a minimum work requirement for entitlement to paid public holidays should be prohibited by law. Paid public holidays should not be counted as part of annual leave entitlements. 7. Flexible working arrangements 46. In the light of contemporary developments in labour law and practice, the development of a national policy on flexibility in the workplace might be appropriate. Such a policy could include flexible arrangements in the scheduling of working hours, for example through flextime, compressed working weeks and job-sharing, as well as flexibility regarding the place of work to include work at home, telework or work from a satellite work centre. Those measures can also contribute towards a better balance between work and family responsibilities, provided they respond to the different requirements and challenges faced by male and female workers. Flexible working arrangements must meet the needs of both workers and employers, and in no case should they be used to undermine the right to just and favourable conditions of work. E. Special topics of broad application 47. The right to just and favourable conditions of work relates to specific workers: (a) Female workers: Progress on the three key interrelated indicators for gender equality in the context of labour rights — the “glass ceiling”, the “gender pay gap” and the “sticky floor” — remains far from satisfactory. Intersectional discrimination and the absence of a life-cycle approach regarding the needs of women lead to accumulated disadvantages that have a negative impact on the right to just and favourable conditions of work and other rights. Particular attention is needed to address occupational segregation by sex and to achieve equal remuneration for work of equal value, as well as equal opportunity for promotion, including through the introduction of temporary special measures. Any assessment of the “value” of work must avoid gender stereotypes that could undervalue 11