Rwanda Annual Leave & Settlement Calculator

Under Article 50 of Law Nº 66/2018 regulating labour in Rwanda, an employee is entitled to paid annual leave accrued at the rate of 1.5 working days per month of effective service, providing a standard baseline of 18 working days for 12 months of continuous employment.

The law provides that annual paid leave is increased by 1 additional working day for each period of 3 continuous years of service with the same employer, up to a statutory ceiling of 21 working days per annum, unless a more favorable collective bargaining agreement applies.

No. Under Article 50, statutory annual leave cannot be substituted for financial compensation while the employment contract remains active. The employee must take actual rest. Cash payment (leave encashment) is only lawful upon termination of employment for accrued unconsumed days.

The standard legal divisor applied by labour inspectors and payroll practitioners in Rwanda is 21.67 working days per month (representing the annual average of 260 working days divided by 12 months).

Annual leave must be taken within 6 months following the end of the reference year in which it was earned. Deferral beyond 6 months requires mutual written agreement, but cannot exceed 2 consecutive reference cycles.