# Annual Leave Entitlement 2026 — 21 Consecutive Days Or 1 Per 17

Source page: https://valem.run/calculators/south-africa/holiday-entitlement

Section 20(2) of the BCEA requires at least 21 consecutive days of annual leave on full remuneration for each 12-month leave cycle, or by agreement one day for every 17 days worked. Because the 21 are consecutive calendar days, they amount to about 15 working days on a five-day week — and the 17:1 method gives 14,7 to 15,3 depending on the length of the working year.

**Tax year:** 2026

## How it 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.

## Worked example

With Days you work per week of 5, this model computes Days Entitled of 15.

## Inputs

| Name | Label | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `method` | Which method your agreement uses | string |
| `daysPerWeek` | Days you work per week | number |
| `monthsWorked` | Months completed in this annual leave cycle | number |
| `daysWorked` | Days you worked, or were entitled to be paid for | number |
| `daysTaken` | Days already taken | number |

## Sources

- [Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997, s.20 — labour.gov.za (21 consecutive days per annual leave cycle; one day per 17 days worked by agreement; a cycle is 12 months)](https://www.labour.gov.za/DocumentCenter/Acts/Basic%20Conditions%20of%20Employment/Act%20-%20Basic%20Conditions%20of%20Employment.pdf) (checked 2026-10-11)

## What this page claims

The Valem engine reproduces this model's formula through 9 self-test cases. That shows internal consistency, not that the formula matches current law; the cited sources are the evidence for that. Estimate, not tax advice.

## For agents

- Model manifest (formula, constants, test vectors): https://valem.run/calculators/south-africa/holiday-entitlement.json
- Compute by URL: https://valem.run/calculators/south-africa/holiday-entitlement.json
- MCP: https://valem.run/mcp/calculators (call `calculate` with calculator `south-africa/holiday-entitlement`)