"How many leave days do I have?" is one of the most common questions HR hears. The follow-up is often harder: "Can the company refuse my leave?" "Do I lose it if I resign?" "Does a public holiday count?"
Many companies answer from habit or an old staff handbook. The Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651) sets the minimum standard, and several of its rules surprise both employers and employees.
The minimum: 15 working days with full pay
Section 20 of the Labour Act states that every worker is entitled to not less than fifteen working days leave with full pay in any calendar year of continuous service.
Three details matter:
- It is a minimum. Employers may give more through contracts, collective agreements, or company policy. They cannot give less.
- It is counted in working days, not calendar days. Fifteen working days is three working weeks, not two.
- "Full pay" has a definition. It means the worker's normal remuneration without overtime, including the cash equivalent of any remuneration in kind.
What counts as continuous service
A change of owner or management does not break continuity of service. Where work is not maintained throughout the year, such as seasonal work, the Act treats the continuous service requirement as met if the worker has worked at least 200 days in that year.
What does not reduce the entitlement
Under sections 22 to 24:
- Public holidays do not affect annual leave entitlement.
- Certified sickness does not reduce annual leave. If a worker falls ill during annual leave and the illness is certified by a medical practitioner, those sick days are not counted as leave.
- Pregnancy and confinement do not affect annual leave entitlement.
- Permitted absence for voluntary communal work, civic duties, or special leave (paid or unpaid) is not counted as annual leave.
Leave should be unbroken, and recalls cost the employer
Section 25 gives every worker the right to an unbroken period of leave. An employer may recall a worker only in cases of urgent necessity. When that happens:
- The worker keeps the right to the remaining days and can take them later.
- Under section 26, the employer must cover any reasonable expense caused by the interruption and by the worker resuming the leave.
The Act also allows leave to be taken in two approximately equal parts. Leave that begins at the end of the calendar year may continue into the next year.
Notice and records are legal requirements
Section 27 is the part most small businesses miss.
Workers should, as far as possible, be told the start date of their annual leave at least 30 days in advance.
Every employer must also keep a record showing:
- Each worker's date of employment and the annual leave they are entitled to
- The dates on which each worker took annual leave
- The pay each worker received for that leave
A WhatsApp approval and a line in someone's notebook do not meet this standard well. If a dispute reaches a labour officer, the employer needs to show the record.
Leave cannot be signed away
Section 31 is short and absolute: any agreement to give up annual leave is void. A contract clause that says "no leave in the first year in exchange for a higher salary" does not remove the worker's statutory right.
What happens when employment ends
Under section 30, a worker whose employment ends is entitled to annual leave in proportion to the period of service in that calendar year. This does not apply where the employer has the right to dismiss the worker without notice.
In practice, HR needs an accurate running balance for every employee at all times, not just at year end.
Maternity leave
Section 57 provides that a woman worker, on producing a medical certificate showing the expected date of confinement, is entitled to:
- At least 12 weeks of maternity leave, in addition to her annual leave
- Full remuneration and benefits during maternity leave
- At least two additional weeks where the confinement is abnormal or two or more babies are born
- Additional leave certified by a medical practitioner for illness caused by the pregnancy or confinement
- As a nursing mother, one hour during working hours to nurse her baby, treated as paid working time
An employer must not dismiss a woman worker because of her absence on maternity leave.
Who the annual leave rules do not cover
The annual leave sub-part does not apply to an undertaking in which only members of the employer's family are employed. Once the business employs anyone outside the family, the rules apply.
A note on the new Labour Bill
Government has said a new labour law is being prepared to cover areas such as gig and remote work. As of 30 September 2026, Act 651 remains the law in force. We will update this guide if the leave provisions change.
From legal minimum to a process people trust
Knowing the law is the first step. The harder part is applying it consistently when requests arrive through messages, calls, and paper forms across different managers and branches. We covered the practical side in how to manage employee leave without spreadsheet confusion.
VeloxaHR keeps leave requests, balances, named approvers, and the history of every decision attached to each employee record. That gives HR the record section 27 asks for without rebuilding it at year end. If leave balances in your organisation still depend on one person's spreadsheet, request a VeloxaHR demo.
This article is general information based on the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651). It is not legal advice. Your contracts, collective agreements, or sector regulations may provide more generous terms.