Fewer days of personal leave?

If a worker requests to take personal leave days, the company must check their collective agreement. This type of leave is not included in the Workers' Statute, so it can only be taken if it is provided for in the agreement. Furthermore, if the agreement does include them, it must be checked whether it expressly regulates when they are accrued. If it does not indicate anything, the principle of proportionality must be applied:

• Do not grant the same number of days to someone who has only worked for part of the year as to someone who has worked for twelve months.

• Personal leave constitutes a leave of free disposition linked to working time and, therefore, its duration may be reduced proportionally.

The regulation of personal leave days is different from that of paid causal leave –such as marriage, the death of a relative, or hospitalization–. Proportionality cannot be applied to any absence of the worker. For these purposes:

• Paid leave that responds to a specific event that, if it occurs, entitles the worker to take it is not reduced.
• Personal leave that allows the worker to freely dispose of certain days without the need to justify the reason is reduced (courts consider that they are related to the time actually worked).

It is also advisable to review whether the agreement classifies personal leave days as paid. Normally, this occurs when they are regulated within the chapter of paid leave (or vacations) and there is another specific section for unpaid leave. If the agreement does not expressly state that they are paid, the hours of absence must be made up so that, at the end of the year, the worker has completed the annual working hours provided for in the agreement.