> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.hr-easy.nlead.ch/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Vacation and leave

> OR Art. 329a entitlement, pro-rating, carry-over, and the other statutory absences.

## The statutory minimum (OR Art. 329a)

| Employee              | Minimum annual vacation |
| --------------------- | ----------------------: |
| Aged 20 and over      |                 4 weeks |
| Under 20 years of age |                 5 weeks |

These are **minima**. Contracts and collective agreements routinely grant more, and
public-sector and school employers often grant considerably more. The entitlement is
configured per employment period, so the contractual figure is what the balance uses.

<Note>
  The higher entitlement is age-based, so it steps down at some point during a young employee's
  employment. The platform does **not** derive it from a birth date — it is configured on the
  employment period, so review it when an employee crosses the threshold.
</Note>

## Pro-rating

Entitlement is pro-rated on two axes:

1. **Pensum** — a 60% employee earns 60% of the days, expressed in their own working
   days.
2. **Period** — someone employed from 1 April earns nine twelfths of the annual
   entitlement.

Both follow the [employment periods](/guides/lifecycle/employee-records#employment-periods),
so a Pensum change mid-year produces the correct blended entitlement without a manual
calculation.

## The balance

```
entitlement (pro-rated)
  + carry-over from the previous year
  − taken
  − approved future absence
  = remaining
```

Carry-over rules are configured per installation. Swiss practice varies from "use it or
lose it by 31 March" to unlimited accrual; both are supported.

## Vacation must be taken, not paid

The employer decides when vacation is taken, having regard to the employee's wishes,
and it is intended to be **taken as rest**. Paying it out instead of granting it is
generally not permitted during ongoing employment.

The exception is the end of employment, where an untaken balance is settled in the final
payroll run — and an *overtaken* balance is recovered. See
[Offboarding](/guides/lifecycle/offboarding#final-pay).

## Reduction for long absence

Extended absence can reduce the vacation entitlement, with the rules depending on the
cause — illness, accident, military service, maternity — and on how long the absence
ran.

<Warning>
  The platform records absences by type and duration but does **not** automatically reduce vacation
  entitlement for long absences. That determination depends on the cause and on contractual terms,
  and it stays a deliberate HR decision recorded on the employment period.
</Warning>

## Other statutory absence

| Absence                                       | Recorded as                                 |
| --------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| Illness                                       | `SICK` — see [Sick pay](/swiss/sick-pay)    |
| Accident                                      | `ACCIDENT` — separate insurance and Lohnart |
| Care of a sick child                          | `CHILD_SICK`                                |
| Maternity, paternity, adoption and care leave | `ABSENT` with the appropriate category      |
| Military and civil service                    | `ABSENT`                                    |
| Compassionate leave                           | `ABSENT`                                    |

The distinction between types is not bookkeeping: they carry different pay treatment,
different insurance, and different payroll items. Recording an accident as illness
produces a wrong declaration.

## Public holidays are not vacation

A public holiday falling in a vacation period does not consume entitlement. Because
holidays are maintained per canton, the deduction is correct for the employee's
Standort without anyone counting by hand.

<Card title="Public and school holidays" icon="calendar" href="/guides/time-absence/holidays">
  Cantonal calendars, computed Easter-relative dates, and school terms.
</Card>