Guide to Annual Leave and Entitlement

With the year coming to an end, I am sure that everyone would be eager to clear their leave. Planning a quick staycation? Or maybe just wanting a few days off for friends and family. Whatever it is, knowing how many days of leave you are entitled to is important for helping you plan that quick getaway!

How to Calculate?

If you have worked for your employer for 3 months or more, you can apply for annual leave. However, the number of days of leave you get will mainly depend on the number of years that you have worked for your employer.

Employees who have worked for their employer for less than a year, between 3-12 months, can still apply for annual leave but it will be pro-rated based on the number of months instead. Let's follow the formula and example below to calculate the pro-rated annual leave.

Pro-rated annual leave = (No. of completed months of service / 12 months) x (No. of days of annual leave entitlement)

For example:

An employee started work on 6th Dec 2019 and left on 10th May 2020

Number of completed months = 5 months (6th May to 10th May is not counted as it is not a complete month)

If an employee has completed 5 months of service and is entitled to 11 days of leave a year, the pro-rated annual leave will be:

(5/12) x 11 days = 4.58

Rounded up to 5 days as the fraction is more than 0.5

What about Unpaid Leave?

The number of days of approved unpaid leave should be excluded when calculating your annual leave entitlement. Your employer can also choose to pro-rate your leave entitlement based on how many complete months you have worked.

What if I am resigning and serving notice?

The notice period after resigning is included when calculating your pro-rated annual leave and is also pro-rated based on the number of complete months you have worked.

For more information, visit the MOM website here.

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