Annual Leave

For Employers: All about Annual Leave and Salaries, Annual Leave and Labour Laws, Annual Leave and Wages and more on AfricaPay Ghana.

Annual leave is granted to an employee who has continuously worked in an undertaking for not less than a year. Where the work is not regularly maintained throughout the year, the requirement for continuous service shall be deemed to have been met if the worker has worked for not less than two hundred days in the particular year. A worker shall be given notice of the date of commencement of his or her annual leave at least thirty (30) days before the worker takes the leave. Every employer is required to keep a record showing the following particulars:

  • The date of employment of each worker employed by the employer and the duration of the annual leave to which the worker is entitled;
  • The dates on which the annual leave is taken by each worker; and 
  • The remuneration received by each worker in respect of the annual leave

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is every worker entitled to annual leave? 

Every worker is entitled to annual leave in any calendar year of continuous service.

How many days is an employee entitled to?

An employee is entitled to not less than fifteen working days leave with full pay.

Can I, as an employer, deduct public holidays from annual leave?

No. Public holidays and absence from duty due to sickness certified by a medical practitioner, and pregnancy and confinement cannot affect the annual leave entitlement of a worker.

Can I, as an employer, deduct from an employee’s annual leave if he/she absents himself/herself from work due to voluntary communal labour, civic duties and special leave?

In a situation in which a worker is absent from his or her normal duties with the permission of the employer on account of the workers’ participation in voluntary communal work, the discharge of civic duties or the granting of special leave with or without pay, this shall not be counted as part of the worker’s annual leave.

Is sick leave part of annual leave?

No. If a worker absents himself/herself from work due to sickness, which is certified by a medical practitioner and it occurs after the commencement of and during annual leave it shall not be computed as part of the leave.

Can I, as an employer, interrupt a worker’s leave?

Yes. Every worker is entitled to enjoy an uninterrupted period of leave but an employer, in case of urgent necessity, may require a worker to interrupt his or her leave and return to work. In any case, a worker shall not forfeit the right to remainder of the leave but shall take the leave any time thereafter.

Is the employer supposed to bear the cost of leave interruption?

When the leave of an employee is interrupted, the employer shall make up to the worker any reasonable expense incurred on account of the interruption, and also resumption of the leave by the worker.

Is it possible for a worker to take his or her leave in two parts?

Yes. A worker may be permitted to take his or her annual leave in two approximate equal parts.

Can leave entitlement be restored to a suspended worker upon their reinstatement?

Where a worker is suspended from the service of his or her employer prior to disciplinary or criminal proceedings being taken against him or her and is reinstated, the worker shall be entitled to take the leave he or she would have had if she had not been suspended.

If I, as an employer, terminate someone’s employment, will this affect leave entitlement earned?

In a situation where the employment of a worker is terminated, the worker is entitled to annual leave in proportion to the period of service in the calendar year. The worker shall not be deprived of any other grants or awards which the worker is entitled including payment in lieu of notice of termination.

Can I, as an employer, pay an employee an amount of money in substitution for their annual leave?

No. By law, any agreement to relinquish the entitlement to annual leave or to forgo such leave is void.

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