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The employee accrues annual holiday according to the months worked. The length of holiday is affected by the length of the employment relationship.
As a rule, the holiday accrual month must be a month in which, depending on the holiday accrual rule, the employee has worked for at least 14 days or 35 hours. Annual holiday is accrued during the holiday accrual year between 1 April and 31 March.
If the employment relationship has lasted less than a year by the end of March, the employee accrues two days of annual holiday for each month of employment. For example, if the employee started work on 1 September 2020, they accrue a total of 14 days of holiday for the holiday accrual year 1 April 2020–31 March 2021.
In an employment relationship that has continued for at least one year, 2.5 days of holiday are accrued per month. Collective agreements often also agree on longer annual holidays.
For the purposes of annual holiday, the employment relationship must have lasted at least one year by 31 March. If the employment relationship started on 1 April of the previous year, the one-year requirement is met. If the employment relationship started after 1 April, the requirement is not met.
Employees subject to the so-called 35-hour earnings rule and employees who receive a pay other than weekly or monthly salary are paid a percentage-based annual holiday pay. If the employment relationship has lasted less than one year by the end of the holiday accrual year, the amount of annual holiday pay is 9% of the wages paid during the previous holiday accrual year (minus any supplements for overtime work). If the employment relationship has lasted longer than a year by 31 March, the annual holiday pay percentage is 11.5%.
According to the Annual Holidays Act, the accrual of annual holiday ends if the employee has been on sick leave or in medical rehabilitation for more than 75 workdays during the year in which the holiday is accrued (1 April–31 March) or continuously after the end of the holiday accrual year for a period of up to 75 working days per illness, accident or rehabilitation period. If the employee’s sick leave or rehabilitation period does not last more than 12 consecutive months, he or she is entitled to additional days off if he or she has accrued less than four weeks (24 days) of paid holiday.
Part-time employee
If a part-time employee works or has a status equivalent to working for 14 days during a month, the maximum of 75 working days applies to the employee. Workdays include days of sick leave when the employee would have been at work.
If the 35-hour earnings rule is applied to the employee’s employment relationship, the maximum is 105 calendar days. The 35-hour earnings rule refers to a calendar month during which the employee has had at least 35 hours of work or activity equivalent to work.
If the employee’s sick leave or rehabilitation period does not last more than 12 consecutive months, he or she is entitled to additional days off if he or she has accrued less than four weeks (24 days) of paid holiday. The consecutive period is interrupted if the workdays or hours between absences entitle the employee to a full month of holiday accrual (14 days or 35 hours, whichever is observed).
Employee on partial sickness allowance
If an employee is on partial sickness allowance so that their daily hours are shortened, or the employee receives partial sickness allowance temporarily, the 14-day earnings rule is applied to the employee and the maximum number of days is 75 days.
If the employee works less than 4 days a week and the part-time sick leave is not temporary, the 35-hour earnings rule and a maximum of 105 days instead applies to the employee.
If the employee’s sick leave or rehabilitation period does not last more than 12 consecutive months, he or she is entitled to additional days off if he or she has accrued less than four weeks (24 days) of paid holiday. Workdays or hours based on an agreement on part-time work do not interrupt the continuity of the sick leave or rehabilitation.
Right to additional days of leave
Additional days of leave extend the employee’s holiday to four weeks (24 days). Additional days of leave differ from normal annual holiday days in that they do not accrue new annual holiday, no holiday bonus* is generally paid for them, and the compensation paid is not called annual holiday pay. The employee is entitled to compensation for additional days of leave for the period in question corresponding to their regular or average salary or wages, which must also include any supplements and employee benefits.
*The collective agreement may have agreed otherwise on the payment of holiday bonus for additional days of leave.
Do you need more information about how annual holiday is accrued?
In some situations, absences from work may affect the accrual of annual holiday and therefore also its length. If you would like more information on the accrual of annual holiday in special situations, such as family leave, study leave, sick leave or a temporary layoff, login to the OMA+ service from the top right corner.
In our OMA+ service, the section on annual holiday in the Lakiruutu video series discusses how annual holiday is accrued in both normal and special situations.
