Government legislation ministry rules extra leave requires 80 percent attendance

The government legislation ministry said employees with three or more years of tenure are eligible for extra paid leave only if they have maintained an attendance rate of at least 80 percent over the past year. The ruling resolves a query on whether long-serving staff could claim additional days regardless of their recent attendance record under the Labor Standards Act.

Under current law, workers who show up for at least 80 percent of scheduled days in a year receive 15 days of basic paid leave. Those employed for three years or longer earn one extra day for every two years of service beyond the first year. The ministry determined this bonus leave is an addition to the basic entitlement and therefore requires the same attendance threshold to be met.

Interpreting the statute otherwise would allow workers with significantly low attendance to receive extra time off solely based on tenure, creating an imbalance with diligent employees. The ministry noted that the purpose of annual leave is to provide rest for those who have faithfully provided labor, and granting bonus days without meeting attendance goals would contradict this legislative intent.

The interpretation aligns with the history of the act, which was revised in 2003 to link leave benefits directly to attendance rates.

The ministry issued the response on June 4 following a civil petition seeking legal certainty on the matter.