Annual Leave and Holidays

Paid Vacation / Annual Leave

A worker is entitled to at least 15 working days fully paid annual leave after completing 12 months of continuous service.

Continuity of service is not interrupted by mere change of ownership or management of the undertaking. If a worker has performed irregular work, they must have worked for at least 200 days in the particular year to fulfil the requirement for continuous service to qualify for annual leave.

If a worker is absent from work with permission of the employer, this period is not considered as an interruption. Public holidays and absence from duty due to sickness certified by a medical practitioner, and pregnancy and confinement, do not affect the annual leave entitlement of a worker.

Annual leave is fully paid, and the leave pay includes basic pay, equivalent pay for in-kind benefit and excluding overtime payments.

A worker may be permitted to take his/her annual leave in two approximately equal parts. Every worker has the right to enjoy annual leave without any interruption, however, an employer, in cases of urgent necessity, may require a worker to interrupt his/her leave and return to work. In such situations, the employer must: - Reimburse reasonable expenses caused by the interruption - Allow the worker to resume the remaining leave later

The Employer must inform the worker at least 30 days prior to the commencement of leave about the start of the leave. If a worker becomes sick during their annual leave and provides a medical certificate, that sick leave is treated separately and does not count as part of the annual leave.

On termination of the employment contract, the worker is entitled to annual leave in proportion to the period of service in the calendar year (except in the case of termination without notice by the employer). Any agreement to relinquish the right to annual leave or to forgo such leave is null and void.

Employers are required to keep a record showing the following particulars: - the date of employment of each worker employed by the employer; - the duration and dates of the annual leave taken - the remuneration received by each worker during the annual leave.

Sources: §20-32 of the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651)

Pay on Public Holidays

Workers are entitled to paid Festival (public and religious) holidays. Festival holidays are announced by the Ghanaian Government at the start of the calendar year (usually 13 in number).

The public holidays are regulated under the Holidays Act, 2001. These days are:

• New Year’s Day (January 01),
• Constitution Day (January 07),
• Independence Day (March 06),
• Good Friday,
• Easter Monday,
• Workers’ Day/May Day (May 01),
• Founders’ Day (August 04),
• Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Day(September 21),
• Eid-il-Fitr,
• Eid-il-Adha,
• Farmers’ Day (first Friday in December ),
• Christmas Day (December 25) and
• Boxing Day (December 26).

Muslim holidays vary from year to year, depending on the lunar movement. If a public holiday falls on a non-working day, the next working day would be appointed as a public holiday.

Africa Unity Day (May 25) and Republic Day (July 01) are observed as Commemorative days. These are not paid public holidays.

In addition to established public holidays, the President can declare additional days as public holidays through an executive instrument when necessary for the public interest. Furthermore, if the President finds that observing a scheduled holiday is impractical on a certain day, they may substitute it with another day, also by issuing an executive instrument.

Sources: § 72 of the Labour Act 2003 (Act 651); Holidays Act, 2001 (Act 601), as amended in 2019 (Act 986)

Weekly Rest Days

Workers, except domestic workers in private homes and task-based workers, are entitled to forty-eight consecutive hours (2 days) of rest per week. The weekly rest days are usually Saturday and Sunday. Weekly rest period is independent of public holidays.

Apart from the weekly rest day, workers are also granted a daily continuous rest of at least twelve hours between two consecutive working days. For seasonal workers, this daily rest may be between 10 and 12 hours, over a period of at least 60 consecutive days in the calendar year.

For seasonal workers, this daily rest may be between 10 and 12 hours, over a period of at least 60 consecutive days in the calendar year.

If the normal working hours are continuous, a worker is entitled to at least thirty minutes of break in the course of the work and the break is included in the normal hours of work. If the normal hours of work are divided into two parts, the break should not be of less than one hour duration and does not form part of the normal hours of work.

A daily rest of at least twelve consecutive hours is granted to an employee between two consecutive working days. For the employees working on a seasonal basis, a daily rest of at least ten hours is provided, which may not exceed twelve hours’ duration over a period of at least sixty consecutive days in the calendar year.

Sources: § 40-44 of the Labour Act, 2003 (Act 651)