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

Verified 20 September 2021 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Certain periods of absence of the employee shall be treated as actual working time. Therefore, they are taken into account in the calculation of the number of days of paid leave acquired by the employee, on the basis of 2,5 working days per month of actual work (i.e. 30 working days per year). On the other hand, if the absence does not constitute actual working time, the number of days of earned leave may be reduced.

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:

  • Work stoppage due to illness
  • Strike
  • Full-time parental leave
  • Parental leave
  • Family Solidarity Leave
  • Layoff
  • Any period equivalent to 4 weeks or 24 days shall be treated as a month of actual work.

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

    It is enough to prove 48 weeks of actual work (including equivalent absences) during the reference period to benefit from the 30 working days.

    Thus, an employee who has accumulated a maximum of 4 unassimilated weeks of absence during the reference period (e.g. for sickness) benefits from 30 working days of annual leave per year.

    If the employee cannot prove a full year, he/she shall acquire 2,5 working days of paid leave for each period:

    • 4 weeks of actual work
    • or, if the calculation is more favorable, either 20 days of actual work (if the employee's working hours are spread over 5 days per week), 22 days (working hours over 5 days 1/2 per week) or 24 days (working hours over 6 days).

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

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