The Annual Leave Law, 5711-1951, sets how many paid vacation days every employee is entitled to — but the tables going around online mix up calendar days and working days, and five-day weeks and six-day weeks. This guide gives you the net numbers, as they appear on the payslip, and the rules around them: accrual, use and redemption.

Entitlement table — 5-day work week

The numbers below are net working days per year, after deducting the weekly rest days, for a full-time employee who worked a full year:

• Years 1–5 — 12 working days
• Year 6 — 14 working days
• Year 7 — 15 working days
• Year 8 — 16 working days
• Year 9 — 17 working days
• Year 10 — 18 working days
• Year 11 — 19 working days
• Year 12 onward — 20 working days

With a six-day work week the numbers are higher (14 working days in the first years). Want your exact number, including a partial year? The vacation days calculator does it for free, by seniority and job percentage.

Worked only part of the year? Pro-rata entitlement

An employee who started mid-year is entitled to a proportional share. The law goes by the number of days actually worked that year: anyone who worked at least 200 days gets the full annual entitlement, and anyone who worked fewer gets a proportional amount. In practice, most payroll systems accrue the entitlement month by month (for example a tenth of the quota each month), and that's what appears on the payslip as the accrued balance.

Accrual: how much can roll over to next year

• The employee must take at least 7 consecutive days each year — a legal requirement meant to ensure real rest.
• The remaining days can, with the employer's consent, be added to the balance and used within the next two years of work.
• Many employers set an accrual cap in an internal policy. Such a cap is legitimate, but wiping out days without giving the employee a real opportunity to use them is legally problematic.

Leave redemption — only when employment ends

When an employee leaves, the employer must pay redemption for the entire unused leave balance, at the value of a working day. During employment, on the other hand, vacation days may not be "sold" for money — the right is to rest, not to extra pay. The accrued balance is also a financial liability of the business, which is why accountants ask at year end for a leave liability report — the value of all employees' accrued days.

Common employer mistakes

• A balance kept in Excel that isn't updated after every absence — the employee and employer only discover the gap when employment ends and redemption has to be paid.
• Counting half days as full days, or the reverse — a morning-only absence recorded as a full day.
• Not distinguishing between absence types — sickness, reserve duty and holidays are not vacation days and may not be deducted from the balance.
• Updating seniority by hand — an employee who passed their sixth year keeps accruing at 12 days instead of 14, because no one updated the formula.

In RayClock, balances are managed automatically: every approved leave request is deducted from the balance, accrual updates according to each employee's seniority, half days are supported, and the leave liability report is generated in one click — so you can compare the system balance with the payroll data and track down any gaps.

The information in this article is general and is not legal or tax advice. Collective agreements, industry extension orders and personal contracts may set different and sometimes more favorable arrangements, and the rules themselves are updated from time to time. For any specific question, we recommend consulting an employment lawyer or an accountant.