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Leave

Vacation-Leave
Entitlement:
 
With effect as from 1st January 2019, an employee working 40 hours per week is entitled to 208 hours of paid annual leave. This is calculated on the basis of a 40-hour working week, and an 8-hour working day. If the average normal hours (excluding overtime) calculated over a period of 17 weeks is below or exceeds 40 hours per week, the vacation leave entitlement in hours should be adjusted accordingly (see L.N. 247 of 2003 - Organisation of Working Time Regulations). When an employee is in employment for less than 12 months, s/he shall be entitled to a proportionate amount of annual leave.
The law specifies that a minimum period equivalent to four weeks (160 hours) cannot be replaced by any allowance, except where the worker’s employment is terminated. Therefore, in respect of the 160 hours that cannot be compensated for, the employee cannot claim payment. It is only possible to carry forward up to 50% of the annual leave entitlement to the following year if there is an agreement with the employer.
 
In agreement: 
 
Vacation leave starts to accumulate as from commencement of employment. It can be availed of only in agreement between the employer and the employee. Once leave from the annual leave entitlement of the employee has been agreed to by the employer and the employee, such leave cannot be cancelled unilaterally but can only be cancelled if both the employer and the employee are in agreement. 
By mutual agreement with the employer, leave can be taken in hours. Otherwise, if there is no agreement between the employer and the employee, leave has to be availed of as a whole day.
 
Shut down: 
As from the 1st of January 2019, unless otherwise agreed to in any applicable collective agreement, or in any agreement reached by the union and the employer/employer association, the employer may only utilize up to the equivalent in hours of twelve working days from the annual leave entitlement for the purposes of any type of shutdown, including a temporary closure of whole or part of the premises by the employer for bridge holidays or any other short periods of shutdown. In any case, any type of shutdown, including a temporary closure of whole or part of the premises by the employer for bridge holidays, shall be communicated to all the employees by the end of January of each calendar year.
 
Accrual during maternity, sick, injury leave:
 
Annual leave continues to accrue in favour of an employee during the period when she is on maternity leave. Any balance of annual leave unavailed of by the end of the calendar year shall be automatically transferred to the next calendar year when it has not been possible for the employee to avail herself of such leave during the same year when the maternity leave commenced. 
When a public or national holiday falling on a day of work or on a weekly day of rest not being a Saturday or a Sunday falls within a period of maternity leave of any employee, such employee shall be entitled to the equivalent in hours of an additional day of annual leave.
Annual leave also continues to accrue in favour of an employee during the period when he is on sick leave or injury leave. Any balance of annual leave unavailed of by the end of the calendar year shall be automatically transferred to the next calendar year when it has not been possible for the employee to avail himself of such leave during the same year when the sickness or injury leave commenced. 
Any period of pre-arranged leave coinciding with a period of maternity, sickness or injury leave shall be considered as not having been availed of but shall be availed of after the return to work or shall be carried on to the subsequent year if such leave could not be availed of during the same year when the maternity, sickness or injury leave commenced.
 
Forced leave:
 
The law regulates forced leave. Should an employee be made to avail himself of forced leave by his employer, the employer shall always provide a written statement justifying the forced leave, within a reasonable time frame before the forced leave starts to run. In such instances the utilization of such forced leave does not give rise to a civil debt in favour of the employer should the leave taken exceed the annual leave entitlement of the employee. 
However, any leave taken by an employee which has been requested by the employee himself, which is in excess of the annual leave
entitlement shall give rise to a civil debt in favour of the employer upon termination of the employee’s employment. 
If the employer refuses to grant the statutory vacation leave, the employee should lodge a claim with the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations for an evaluation of the case and possible court action to be taken against the employer. The Department will usually ask the court to decree that any unavailed of vacation leave should be compensated by the employer. However, there always exist the possibility for the employer to agree with the employee to carry forward up to 50% of the annual leave entitlement to the following year.
Upon termination from employment, an employee has the right to claim financial compensation for any balance of outstanding leave that is due.
Article by DIER, for further information please contact us or visit the website DIER
 

Urgent-Family-Leave
The employer is bound by law to grant every employee a minimum total of fifteen hours with pay per year as time off for urgent family reasons. These hours are to be deducted from the annual leave entitlement of the employee. Such urgent leave has to be related to cases of sickness or accident to members of the immediate family of the employee.

This entitlement is regulated by L.N. 296 of 2003 - Urgent Family Leave Regulations.

Article by DIER, for further information please contact us or visit the website DIER

 

Sick-Leave-1.png

The amount of sick leave varies substantially according to the relevant Wage Regulation Order that regulates the specific sector of industry. Detailed information can be found in the Department's Resource Pack. Where the type of activity of work is not regulated by any W.R.O., the sick leave entitlement of an employee amounts to two working weeks per year (calculated in hours) as stipulated by L.N. 432 of 2007 - Minimum Special Leave Entitlement Regulations.

In occasions of sickness, a medical certificate has to be presented to the employer. If the absence from work is not covered by a medical certificate, other arrangements (like applying for leave) have to be sought. The employer is only required to issue wages for the amount of sick leave entitlement provided by law. If an employee remains sick after having exhausted all the sick leave entitlement, s/he will only continue to receive the Sickness benefit from the Social Security to which s/he may be entitled.

Article by DIER, for further information please contact us or visit the website DIER

 

Parental-LeaveBoth male and female workers have the individual right to be granted unpaid parental leave in case of birth, adoption, fostering or legal custody of a child to enable them to take care of that child for a period of four months until the child has attained the age of eight years. Parental leave can be availed of in established periods of one month each.
An employee must have at least 12 months continuous service with his/her employer to be eligible to apply for Parental Leave, unless a shorter period is agreed to.
The employee’s balance of parental leave is transferred to the new employment. The employee is not entitled to a fresh parental leave entitlement.

This entitlement is regulated by L.N. 225 of 2003 - Parental Leave Entitlement Regulations.

Article by DIER, for further information please contact us or visit the website DIER

 

Maternity leave

At law, a pregnant employee is entitled to maternity leave. In the case of an employee who is pregnant, breastfeeding or has recently given birth, and who could be exposed to a risk at work that could jeopardise her health and safety and/or the pregnancy/the child, such employee is entitled to special maternity leave as long as the risk exists. An employee is also entitled to time off without loss of pay or any other benefit, in order to attend ante-natal examinations, if such examinations have to take place during her hours of work.

A pregnant employee can resort to maternity leave for an uninterrupted period of eighteen (18) weeks. The first fourteen (14) weeks are paid by the employer but the weeks beyond the first fourteen (14) weeks are not paid by the employer.

This is without prejudice to any entitlement for payment which may be effected by virtue of the Social Security Act with regards to the extra weeks after the first fourteen (14) weeks.
She has to notify her employer in writing of the date when she intends to avail herself of such entitlement at least four weeks before its commencement, in so far as is reasonably practicable.

The employee is obliged to avail herself of six (6) weeks of the total entitlement immediately after the date of confinement. Another four (4) weeks are to be taken immediately before the expected date of confinement, unless agreed otherwise between the employer and the employee. The remaining balance of entitlement to be availed of, in whole or in part may be taken, either immediately before or immediately after the aforementioned periods, as the employee may decide.


On termination of maternity leave, the employee has the right to resume work in the post formerly occupied on the commencement of the maternity leave and if such post is no longer available, to a related post.
This entitlement is regulated by S.L. 452.91 - Protection of Maternity (Employment) Regulations.

Article by DIER, for further information please contact us or visit the website DIER

 

  1. Marriage leave
  2. Leave for trial
  3. Injury leave
  4. Court witness leave

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