Can a worker’s vacation time be paid? Paid annual leave is a right of all workers. These rights are regulated by the Ministry of Employment and Social Security in the Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015, of October 23rd, which approves the revised text of the Workers’ Statute Law. Annual leave cannot be less than 30 calendar days and are agreed in two ways:
• Individually, which must be agreed between the employee and the company by means of the labor contract.
• Collectively, depending on the particular agreement applicable.
The Workers’ Statute states that vacation days are an inalienable and non-transferable right of the worker and cannot be paid by the company. Therefore, in general terms we can say that a worker’s vacation cannot be compensated economically. However, there are exceptions in which it is possible for the vacation to be paid. This case has been given the name of paid and unused vacation days (vacaciones retribuidas y no disfrutadas).
In GyV Asesores we care about your labor and financial stability, that is why in this article we tell you everything you need to know about the payment of the vacations, always from the point of view of the legal regulation.
When is a worker’s vacation paid?
As mentioned above, vacation days are an inalienable right of the employee and must be utilized, i.e. they cannot be waived, accumulated or replaced by an economic compensation.
However, there are two cases in which vacations are economically compensated:
• Retirement: the economic compensation will only occur in the case of retirement due to inability to and if the employee has not been able to use their vacation days due to this inability. In the case of normal retirement, the employee will not be entitled to this economic compensation.
• Termination of employment contract: In this situation, if the employment contract is terminated before the agreed date and without having used the vacation days, the worker will have the right to claim the economic compensation.
How to calculate the vacations not taken?
It is as simple as a rule of three, that is to say, we will have to multiply the days that the employee has worked by 30 days per month (it is always going to be 30, independently of the month) and divide the resultant by 365, which corresponds to the days of a year.
After this, it is necessary to deduct what the worker receives per day, dividing the monthly salary by 30 days of the month.
Finally, multiply the previous result by the days of vacation days that have not been used. The resulting amount will be what the company must pay the employee as unused vacation days.
At GyV Asesores we are experts in the matter, with more than 20 years of experience. Our qualified professionals we will resolve any questions or concerns that you may have. Book an appointment in our offices in Cártama or Coín.
