South African holiday entitlement calculator (annual leave)

How annual leave in South Africa is calculated

*"An employer must grant an employee at least — (a) 21 consecutive days’ annual leave on full remuneration in respect of each annual leave cycle."* The word carrying the weight is **consecutive**. Twenty-one consecutive days include the weekends inside them, so on a Monday-to-Friday week the entitlement is **15 working days**, not 21.

**The Act then offers two alternatives, and they do not agree with (a).** *"(b) by agreement, one day of annual leave… for every 17 days on which the employee worked or was entitled to be paid; (c) by agreement, one hour… for every 17 hours."* At 17:1, a 250-day working year yields **14,7** days and a 260-day year **15,3**. So the agreement that selects the method is worth up to half a day either way.

**It is Ireland’s mirror image.** Ireland’s Organisation of Working Time Act runs three methods in parallel and gives the employee whichever is **greatest**, saying so in the section. South Africa lists three joined by *"or"* and supplies no tie-break: (a) applies unless an agreement selects (b) or (c). Same surface structure, opposite default.

**A cycle is yours, not the calendar’s.** s.20(1) defines the annual leave cycle as the 12 months following your start date, or the end of your previous cycle — so like Switzerland’s Dienstjahr it moves with the employee rather than resetting in January. The Act provides no in-cycle pro-rata of the grant itself; s.21 handles an incomplete cycle by requiring payment on termination, at one day’s remuneration per 17 days worked once employment has passed four months.