Employee Holiday & Leave Entitlement in Colombia
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As most of countries, every company and employer in Colombia grant paid time off to their employees. Employees acquires the days at a rate of 1,25 day for each month of work totaling up to 15 days for the full year of work the first year. On top of the employee holiday, you have to add national holidays (18 per year)
Let’s discover more about Employee Holiday & Leave Entitlement in Colombia ⬇️
1,25 day per month (1st year) => 15 days per year + 18 public holidays
Holiday entitlement in Colombia
Annual leave, also known as holiday pay or paid time off, allows you to be paid while you take time off work.
Eligibility
All employees and workers in Colombia can take this holiday leave including:
- full-time and part-time employees
- regardless of their seniority, employment qualifications, nature of compensation, and working hours.
Also, part-time employees have the same rights as full-time employees.
Accrual period and rate
Accrual rate
Employees start accruing paid holiday leave from the moment they sign their employment contract. Employees receive 1,25 day of paid leave per month of actual work during the first year.
Accrual period
The holiday leave is accrued during the first year which goes from the start date of the contract and last one year.
For instance, if your new employee starts 02/03/2025, the acquisition period will go from 02/03/2025 to 01/03/2026 and the employee would not be able to go on holidays before 01/03/2026.
Completing an entire year of work is required before being eligible for holiday leave.
Taking a holiday leave
Employees acquire 1,25 working days per month during the first year, which comes to 15 calendar days per year. For the purpose of counting holidays, Colombians consider working day, from Monday to Friday.
Employees must be notified of their vacation dates at least 15 days prior to the start of their leave.
Installments
The vacation period is 15 working days, which may be split, but in no case may the employee rest less than 6 consecutive working days in a year.
Holiday payment
In Colombia, the employer pays holiday leave. During the holiday leave, employees don’t receive their usual salary (their employment contract is suspended). Instead, they receive a holiday allowance.
The payment received during vacation aligns with the basic salary that the employee was earning on the day the leave began. For employees with variable earnings, the annual leave payment is determined by calculating the average salary earned in the year before the start of the annual leave.
The payment must be done on the first day of PTO at the latest.
Carrying over and selling annual leave
Colombian employees are able to carry over unused vacation into the following year. Any unused days can be rolled over for up to a maximum of 2 years or 4 years for technical, specialized, trustworthy, management or foreign workers.
In addtition, vacations must never be compensated with any remuneration, i.e. the employer must grant to the employee the total amount of day off he has accumulated.
Payment of Accrued, Unused Vacation on Termination
An employer must pay all accrued, unused holiday leave (holiday indemnity) unless termination was due to serious and gross misconduct.
Public holidays in Colombia
In Colombia, law 51 of 1983, better known as the “Emiliani” law, regulates public holidays.
Public holidays
Mandatory holiday are:
- New Year’s Day (Jan 1)
- Epiphany Holiday (Jan 6)
- Saint Joseph’s Day (March 19)
- Maundy Thursday (Thursday before Easter Sunday)
- Good Friday (Friday before Easter Sunday)
- Labour Day (May 1)
- Ascension Day (39 days after Easter Sunday)
- Corpus Christi (60 days after Easter Sunday)
- Sacred Heart (68 days after Easter Sunday)
- Saint Peter and Saint Paul (June 29)
- Declaration of Independence (July 20)
- Battle of Boyaca (Aug 7)
- Assumption Day (Aug 15)
- Columbus Day (Oct 12)
- All Saints’ Day (Nov 1)
- Independence of Cartagena (Nov 11)
- Immaculate Conception (Dec 8)
- Christmas Day (Dec 25)
Sick leave
Employees in Colombia are entitled to maximum 180 sick leave days a year, provided it is a non-occupational disease. Employees must provide a Colombian Social Security authority document.
Employees receive up to 2/3 of their salary during the initial 90 days. After that and during the remaining sick leave, they will receive 50% of their regular wage.
If the employee has suffered a work-related accident, employees will receive 100% of their wage.
Parental leave
Parental leave in Colombia is paid time off work for new parents. This leave allows mothers or first carrier to recover from childbirth. It also gives both parents time to bond with their children and get used to life with a new family member.
Maternity leave
Employees in Colombia are entitled to maximum 18 weeks of full paid leave.
Paternity Leave
Ordinary paternity leave is 14 days.
Other leaves in Colombia
Bereavement leave
In Colombia, employees can take up to five days after the death of employee’s spouse, children, parents, siblings, grandchildren, grandparents, or in-laws.
An official document must be provided by the employee from a competent authority within 30 days of the event. .
Marriage Leave
Employees in Colombia can take up to 5 working days of paid leave for their wedding.
Voting leave
Colombian employees are entitled to half-day paid leave to vote in elections.
Manage Employee Holiday & Leave Entitlement in Colombia With Europortage
Manage employee Holiday & Leave Entitlement in Colombia is complex especially when it comes to compliance. That’s why we recommend working with a direct and local partner like Europortage.
Our team of local experts is on hand to support you throughout the entire employee lifecycle, including time-off management. We can give you clear advice on local holiday and time-off regulations, in addition to handling employment contracts, payroll, and benefits. That way, you can focus on growing a world-class team and business.
Get in touch to find out more and start hiring top talent in Latin America!
