Annual leave during probation discussed

Do you get annual leave during probation?

The answer is yes. Probation is a ‘testing’ period where a new employee undergoes a certain amount of time in work to be assessed on his or her suitability. A probation period can last anytime between 30 days (1 month) to 180 days (6 months). While new employees might not enjoy all the benefits and perks offered to permanent staff, they are entitled for annual leaves on prorated basis.

If a probationer works for 4 months and decides to resign from the job, he can utilize the annual leave entitlement either: a. not to attend work (equivalent to number of annual leaves remaining), or b. attend work as usual, and request the remaining annual leaves to be converted to cash.

Say, in his first year of work, he is given 12 days of annual leaves. If he leaves after completing his fourth months, his prorated annual leave is 4 days.

This is backed by the provision of the Employment Act 1955 (Section 605E) which stipulates that if an employee decides to end his contract service, he should be entitled for annual leave which is proportionate to the period of service.