It is the right of a worker to enjoy a period of rest that interrupts his/her usual work activities, with the main purpose of using the free time for recreational activities or simply to take some time off.
Vacation days on account are duly remunerated without loss of seniority.
When does the employee become entitled to paid vacation?
Annual Paid Vacation
The worker acquires the right to paid annual leave after each year of work in the service of the same employer, even if his/her contract does not require him/her to work all the hours of the ordinary working day or all the days of the week.
The vacation period that workers are entitled to enjoy varies depending on the length of time they have worked for the same employer, which is governed by the following rules:
- After one (1) year of continuous service, ten (10) consecutive working days.
- After two (2) years of continuous service, twelve (12) consecutive working days.
- After three (3) years of continuous service, fifteen (15) consecutive working days.
- After four (4) years of continuous service, twenty (20) consecutive working days.
It is important to establish that they will not interrupt the continuity of the work:
- Unpaid leaves of absence.
- Rest periods granted by this Code, Regulations and Related Laws.
- Justified illnesses.
- Extension or renewal of employment contract.
(Articles 345 and 346 of the Labor Code)
Who is the person who must indicate the dates for vacation leave?
The period for vacations must be indicated by the Employer, at the latest within three (3) months following the date on which the employee is entitled to the vacations, these vacations must be granted ex officio or at the request of the employee. Ten (10) days in advance, the Employer must make known the date on which the employee will enjoy his vacations.
The sums that the Employee shall receive for Vacations shall be settled and paid three (3) days prior to the date on which he/she begins to enjoy them.
It is prohibited to compensate vacations with money, only in cases authorized by the Secretary of Labor and Social Security.
(Article 348 Labor Code)
Can an employee compensate his/her vacation in cash or in kind?
Prohibition of vacation accrual
Accrual of vacation is not allowed by law. By exception, it is allowed only once for employees engaged in work such as:
- Technical Work
- Management
- Trusted
In this case, vacation may be accrued for up to two periods, since if a third period is accrued, the first accrued period is lost.
These tasks are the ones that really make replacement difficult, and in these examples mentioned above, the corresponding accumulation may be for up to two (2) years.
(Article 350 Labor Code)
If the company has entered into a collective bargaining agreement with its employees and if it contains a more favorable provision in this regard, that is what applies.
The worker will have the right to enjoy each year a period of paid vacation, its extension and opportunity will be regulated by law. Vacations may not be compensated for money, nor accumulated, and the employer is obliged to grant them to the worker as well as the worker is obliged to enjoy them.
(Article 128 # 8 Constitution of the Republic of Honduras)
Can an employee's vacation period be interrupted?
Only in case of urgent need, the employer may require the employee to suspend these and return to work.
It is worth mentioning that when the employee's vacation is suspended, he/she does not lose the right to resume it.
(Article 351 Labor Code)
How are vacations paid?
In order to calculate the salary that the employee must receive for his/her vacations, the average of the ordinary remunerations earned by the employee during the last 6 months or fraction of a shorter period when the contract has not lasted that long, increased by the equivalent of his/her remuneration in kind, if any, is taken as a basis.
To obtain the aforementioned average, the total sum of the amounts that the employee has earned as ordinary salary is divided by the number of days worked by the employee during the period used as the basis for the calculation.
Negative effects of not taking vacation time
- Decrease in productivity
- Increased stress
- Impact on work-life balance.
- Exhaustion
Gabriela Oliva
