GIBRALTAR Law and Practice Contributed by: Nick Cruz, Marc X Ellul, Arcelia María Hernández-Cordero and Kayleigh-Anne Revagliatte, Ellul & Cruz
Application of annual holiday entitlements The initial minimum paid annual holiday entitlement is 15 days for employees working at least five days a week, increasing gradually to 25 days for employees who have attained eight years of service. There is no statutory unpaid holiday entitlement. Employees are entitled to take annual holidays on consecutive days. Any rest days or public holidays that fall during the annual holiday period do not count as days of annual holiday. An employer is required to give employees a reason - able notice of the commencement date(s) of their annual holiday periods. This notice may be given individually or by the posting of a notice in the place where the employees are employed. End of employment holiday pay Where an employee ceases to be employed by an employer, the employer is required to – on termination of the employment – pay to the employee one day’s holiday pay in respect of each day of accrued annual holiday to which the employee would have been enti - tled, minus any days of annual holiday already taken. However, holiday pay is not payable to an employee where: • the employee is dismissed on the grounds of either dishonesty or misconduct and is so informed by their employer at the time of dismissal; or • the employee leaves the employment without giv - ing the employer notice of termination of employ - ment in accordance with Section 54 (2) of the Employment Act 1932. Where an employee dies while in the employment of an employer, the amount of any accrued holiday pay to which the employee would have been entitled had a notice to terminate the employment been given to the employer – expiring on the date of their death – is due and payable to the legal personal representative of the employee by the employer. Nonetheless, the above-mentioned provisions of the EAPHO do not prevent any employer allowing annual or public holiday conditions or the payment of holiday
remuneration on terms more favourable than those prescribed. Sick Leave, Illness and Incapacity Under the Employment (Sick Pay) Order of 1974, with - in any period of 12 months (calculated from the first day of an employee being absent from work owing to illness), sick leave is payable as follows: full pay for two weeks and, thereafter, half pay for four weeks. Therefore, after an employee has taken six weeks of sick leave within said 12-month period, they are not entitled to receive any further payments from an employer for any subsequent days of sick leave taken. Time Off for Urgent Family Reasons Pursuant to Regulation 29 of the Employment (Mater - nity and Parental Leave, And Health And Safety) Regulations 1997 (EMPHS), employees may take five days a year unpaid leave for emergency family rea - sons such as sickness or accident affecting a member of their immediate family that makes the employee’s presence indispensable. “Immediate family” means a child under the age 18, a parent or spouse buy also includes a dependant who has no other means of sup - port or assistance. Maternity Leave The law governing maternity leave is set out in Regula - tions 1 to 18 of the EMPHS. It allows for a period of 14 weeks’ unpaid maternity leave, provided that the employee has worked with an employer for at least two years (calculated up to the start of 11 weeks before the expected week of childbirth). Parental Leave Regulation 26 of the EMPHS also entitles employees to take four months’ parental leave – limited to no more than four weeks in any one year – following the birth or adoption of their child. This can only be taken during the period up to the child’s fifth birthday or the fifth anniversary of adoption (as the case may be). Pension Entitlement The Private Sector Pensions Act 2019 (PSPA) was enacted in August 2021 to establish a framework for private sector pensions, ensuring that employees in Gibraltar have access to workplace pensions should they wish to do so. The PSPA makes it compulsory for
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