Annual Leave
Who is entitled?
All employees covered by the Employment Act, including managers and executives, are entitled to paid annual leave after working for their employer for at least 3 months.
How many days?
Entitlement depends on years of service with the employer, counted from the employee's start date:
Year of service | Days of annual leave |
1st | 7 |
2nd | 8 |
3rd | 9 |
4th | 10 |
5th | 11 |
6th | 12 |
7th | 13 |
8th and thereafter | 14 |
These are minimums. Employers can give more by contract.
Prorated leave
Employees who have worked at least 3 months but less than 12 months in their first year get prorated leave:
(Completed months of service ÷ 12) × annual leave entitlement
A fraction below half a day is rounded down, and half a day or more is rounded up to one day. For example, 4 completed months with a 10-day entitlement gives 3.33 days, which rounds down to 3 days. Periods of approved unpaid leave are excluded from the calculation. For an employee who has resigned, the notice period is included.
Unused leave
- Employees covered by Part 4: unused statutory leave can be carried forward to the following 12 months.
- Other employees: the treatment of unused leave (carry forward, encash or forfeit) is set by the employment contract.
- Leave above the statutory minimum: the employer's policy applies.
When employment ends
Unused annual leave must be paid out when employment ends, unless the employee is dismissed for misconduct. An employee may also lose their annual leave entitlement if they are absent without permission or a reasonable excuse for more than 20% of working days in a month or year.
