Annual Leave and Holidays
Paid Vacation / Annual Leave
According to the Labour Act, 2007, the number of days in the annual leave is calculated in accordance with the number of days ordinarily worked by the employee in a work week. If the number of days in the ordinary work week is 6, the annual leave entitlement is 24 working days. The number of days ordinarily worked in a week is to be multiplied by 4, and the result would be the annual leave in terms of working days. There does not appear to be annual leave distinctions between employees who are adults and adolescents/children.
The employer is to determine the timing of annual leave. However, it is to be taken no later than four months after the end of the annual leave cycle. It can even be taken six months after the end of the annual leave cycle as long as the employee has agreed in writing to such an extension.
Every employee is entitled to full remuneration during the annual leave. However, the number of days in the annual leave may be decreased if, on the request of the employee, the employer grants that employee occasional leave on full remuneration. An employer must pay the remuneration to an employee in respect of annual leave according to that employee’s regular pay schedule. In any other circumstance, the remuneration must be paid either on the last working day before the start of the annual leave or on the first pay day after the end of the leave period, if the employee requests such an extension in writing.
Annual leave generally cannot be replaced by cash, except on termination of employment.
Source: §23 of the Labour Act, 2007
Pay on Public Holidays
Under the Schedule of the Public Holidays Act, 1940, there are 12 public holidays in total. They consist of New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Independence Day (the 21st of March), Worker’s Day (the 1st of May), Cassinga Day (the 4th of May), Ascension Day, Africa Day (the 25th of May), Heroes Day (the 26th of August), Day of the Namibian Woman and International Human Rights Day (the 10th of December), Christmas Day (the 25th of December), Family Day (the 26th of December). By presidential proclamation under the Public Holidays Act, the President has declared Genocide Remembrance Day (28 May) a public holiday from 2025 onwards.
If a public holiday falls on the day the employee normally works, the worker is entitled to a fully paid public holiday.
Source: Public Holidays Act, 1990 (Act 26 of 1990) and §22(5)(a)(i) of the Labour Act, 2007
Weekly Rest Days
Under the Labour Act, 2007, an employer cannot require or permit an employee, other than an employee who is performing urgent work, to work for more than 12 hours. Furthermore, an employer cannot allow an employee to work without a weekly interval of at least 36 hours of consecutive rest unless he/she is performing urgent work. A weekly interval of at least 36 hours of consecutive rest must be provided.
It should also be noted that an employer cannot require or allow an employee to perform work on a Sunday. Exceptions to this are where an employee is employed for the purpose of urgent work, business of a shop, hotel, etc., which operates on a Sunday, domestic services in a private household, health and social welfare care and residential facilities, farm work, work where continuous shifts are necessary, or any activity which may be approved by the Labour Department.
Source: §20-21 of the Labour Act, 2007
Regulations on Annual Leave and Holidays
- Labour Act, 2007
