An employee earns 2.5 working days (or 2.08 working days) of paid vacation per month, even if he or she works part-time.
Leave is generally earned over the reference period from June1 N to May 31 N+1.
Thus, an employee who has worked a full year has acquired 30 working days' vacation (or 25 working days), or 5 weeks.
The 30-working-day leave breaks down as follows:
- main" leave of 24 days (4 weeks)
- the 5th week of paid vacation.
The 5th week cannot be added to the main vacation (unless otherwise agreed).
In principle, the main vacation must be taken during the statutory period from May1 to October 31.
This main leave can be split, but the employee must be able to take at least 12 working days of continuous leave during the legal period from May1 to October 31.
Please note:
splitting the main leave (of 4 weeks) may entitle the employee to additional leave.
Case 1: Employer's request for time-sharing
When the employer requires the employee to split the 4 weeks of main leave, he must grant him additional days of leave, provided that the remainder of the main leave is taken outside the period from May1 to October 31.
The number of days thus acquired is as follows :
| Working days of vacation taken outside the period from May1 to October 31 | Additional working days off |
| 1 to 2 days | 0 |
| From 3 to 5 days | +1 |
| From 6 to 12 days | +2 |
Case 2: The employee requests the split
When the request to split the 4 weeks of main leave is made by the employee, the employer may authorize the split on condition that the employee waives the additional split days. This waiver must be individual and express.
A written document is therefore essential for reasons of proof. In the absence of a written document, split days are due.
OUR ADVICE
As October 31 approaches, we advise you to take stock of how your employees have been taking the main 4-week leave since May1, 2021.
If they fail to take all their leave, and do not agree to waive their right to split their leave, you may be obliged to grant them additional days of leave.
