Holidays

• 1st January – New Year’s Day

• 28th February – Carnival Monday (Celebrated Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday)

• 14th April – Maundy Thursday

• 15th April – Good Friday

• 19th April – Independence Declaration Day

• 1st May – Labour Day

• 24th June – St. John’s Day (Also marks the Battle of Carabobo in 1821)

• 5th July – Independence Day

• 24th July – Simon Bolivar’s Birthday

• 12th October – Indigenous Resistance Day

• 24th December – Christmas Eve

• 25th December – Christmas Day

• 31st December – New Year’s Day

PTO

• Vacation/Annual Paid Leave

Employees are entitled to take 15 working days per year of paid vacation upon completion of one continuous year of service, plus one additional working day for each subsequent year of service, up to a maximum of 15 additional working days.

Employees are also entitled to receive, when taking their vacations, a payment of 15 days of salary as a “vacation bonus” upon completion of the first uninterrupted year of service, plus one additional day’s salary for each subsequent year of uninterrupted service, up to a maximum of 30 days of salary.

• Rollovers and payout of unused hours

• Use-it-or-lose-it policy

Vacations not enjoyed by workers cannot be forfeited; on the contrary, they have to be accrued for the worker’s next year’s vacation.

• PTO payout at the termination

If there is any remaining vacation days entitlement at the end of the employment relationship, the employer has to compensate the employee.

Maternity Leave, Paternity Leave, Adoption Leave, Parental Leave

Maternity Leave

Maternity leave is divided between prenatal leave and postnatal leave. Prenatal leave starts six weeks before the birth of a child and postnatal leave extends to 20 weeks after the birth. The mother has the right to keep her job and receive her full normal salary, in accordance with social security regulations. If there is a medical complication that requires an employee to be absent from work, both prenatal and postnatal leave can be extended. Further, if the employee does not use her full prenatal leave entitlement, the remaining period can be added to the postnatal leave, as well as any pending vacation allowance. Both prenatal and postnatal leave are not renounceable.

Paternity Leave

Male employees are entitled to up to fourteen days of continuous paid paternity leave from the child’s birth.

Adoption Leave

Both maternity and paternity leave are also applicable to parent employees who adopt a child under the age of three. Adoption leave of 26 weeks is available if a child is adopted at the age of 3 years or younger.

Sick Leave

Employees are entitled to sick leave or labor-related incapacity for up to 52 weeks. To claim sick pay, employees are required to provide a medical certification, as issued by the Venezuelan Social Security Institute.

During the first 3 days of sick leave, the employer must pay the employee’s full salary. Thereafter, the employer must pay 33 percent of the employee’s salary, and the remaining 66 percent will be paid by the Venezuelan Social Security Institute. Some employers pay the employee´s full salary during sick leave, as payments by the Social Security Institute are often severely delayed.

Jury Duty Leave and Voting Leave

Not specified by law.

Bereavement Leave

Employees are entitled to 2 days of paid leave due to a death of a direct family member.

Military Leave

Employees are entitled to paid leave while on military service or training.

Please consult your local legal counsel to learn more about Venezuela Leave Laws.

To learn more about laws in various countries, check out our Leave Laws page.