Is the employee's absence taken into account for the calculation of his leave?

Verified 20 June 2024 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Yes, certain periods of absence still allow the employee to acquire paid leave if these absences are treated as actual working time. Therefore, these periods of absence are taken into account in the calculation of the number of days of paid leave. On the other hand, if periods of absence are not considered as actual working time, the number of days of accrued leave may be reduced according to the number of days of absence.

Tableau - Periods which may or may not be regarded as actual working time

Assimilated periods

Non-assimilated periods

Except treaty provisions more favorable, the periods not taken into account include the following:

  • Strike
  • Full-time parental leave
  • Parental leave
  • Family Solidarity Leave
  • Layoff
  • Sabbatical
  • Unpaid leave
  • The employee shall be entitled to 2.5 days working days per month of actual work (either 30 days working days of annual leave)

    Warning  

    In case of work stoppage due to illness unprofessional, the employee shall be entitled to paid leave, up to 2 days working days per month (either 24 working days per year).

    The employee may, depending on his personal situation, benefit from additional days of paid leave.

    Any period equivalent to 4 weeks or 24 days shall be treated as one month's actual work.

    To acquire all the days of annual leave, it is not necessary to prove a full year's work.

    The employee must, however, provide proof of 48 weeks actual work (including equivalent absences) during the period referred to as reference to take advantage of the 30 working days.

    If the employee is absent during the reference period, his paid leave shall be counted as follows and in accordance with the rule applicable to him most favorable :

    • Either in monthly statement : 2.5 working days per month of actual work
    • Either in weekly statement : 2.5 working days every 4 weeks of actual work
    • Either in daily statement :
      • 2.5 working days for a period of 24 days of actual work
      • or 20 working days if working hours are spread over 5 days per week
      • or 22 working days if working hours are spread over 5.5 days per week
      • or 24 days if working hours are spread over 6 days per week

    The employer must then calculate the holiday pay statement according to the period that is most favorable to the employee, either monthly, weekly or daily.

    Where the number of earned working days is not an integer, the duration of the leave shall be increased to the next higher integer.

    Example :

    An employee has earned 26.5 days of paid leave. His days off are rounded up to 27 days.

    Please note

    The period of absence which is not treated as actual working time may not lead to a reduction in leave entitlements greater than the duration of the period of absence.

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