I have a small SIA (retail outlet). My employee is asking for monetary compensation instead of vacation, which she does not want to take. Is there a provision in the legislation that allows this?
If an employee is provided with monetary compensation instead of vacation, would this not be a violation of labor legislation? A reader from bb.lv
Answers Alevtina Grigorenko, lawyer:
– Issues related to the provision of vacation are regulated by two articles of the Labor Law: Article 149 (right to vacation) and Article 150 (procedure for granting annual paid vacation). Based on these articles, vacation is not only the employee's right to rest but also a requirement for them to use this time at their discretion, without going to work.
Section 35 of the Labor Law states (quote, translation — M.B.): "the employee has the right to annual paid vacation, which cannot be less than four calendar weeks, excluding public holidays (part 1 of Article 149).
Regarding whether one can refrain from taking vacation in hopes of receiving monetary compensation, the law clearly stipulates that "monetary compensation for annual paid vacation is not allowed, except in cases where the employment relationship is terminated and the employee has not used their annual paid vacation. The employer is obliged to pay compensation for the entire period during which the employee did not use their annual paid vacation (Article 149, part 5).
