Annual leave and public holidays 2027 in Algeria: calendar, calculation rules and employee rights

Planning time off in Algeria means juggling three things: the annual leave the law guarantees you, the public holidays set by the State, and the religious holidays whose exact date is only known the day before. This guide brings it all together for 2027: the public holiday calendar (including those that fall on a Friday or Saturday), the annual leave rules under law no. 90-11 of 21 April 1990, special leave (wedding, birth, death, pilgrimage), the southern wilayas, and what the employer owes you if you leave the company without having taken your days.

Public holidays 2027 in Algeria: the calendar

Legal holidays are set by law no. 63-278 of 26 July 1963, amended several times, notably by law no. 18-12 of 2 July 2018 which added Yennayer, 12 January. Public holidays are non-working and paid for all employees. Religious holidays follow the lunar calendar: the dates below are estimates, give or take a day, confirmed by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and then by official announcement.

• 13 public holidays in total, of which 2 fall on a weekend in 2027 (1 January, 1 May), and possibly Mawlid. Algerian law provides no substitute day for a holiday that falls on a rest day: it is simply lost, unless a collective agreement or company practice is more favourable.
• Bridge days (Monday 4 July, for instance) are not public holidays: they are up to the employer, who may grant them, deduct them from annual leave, or have them made up.
• Working on a public holiday: the day is paid as usual and earns a premium and/or compensatory rest according to the collective agreement; check the “public holidays” clause of yours.
• Holidays of other faiths: Christian or Jewish employees may obtain days off for their religious holidays under the conditions set by regulation; ask in writing.

Annual leave: 2.5 days per month, 30 days per year

Paid annual leave is a right the employee cannot waive (articles 39 and 53 of law 90-11). It accrues per month worked: 2.5 calendar days per month, capped at 30 days per reference year (article 40). The reference period runs from 1 July to 30 June of the following year (article 42): the leave you take in summer 2027 is the leave earned between July 2026 and June 2027. Any period of work longer than fifteen days counts as a full month.

Public holidays that fall during your leave are not deducted from your annual leave: they remain holidays. The weekend inside the period does count, since leave is expressed in calendar days. A “three-week” holiday therefore uses 21 days, not 15. Many sector collective agreements count in working days or grant a longer duration: they apply when more favourable.

Leave pay: how it is calculated

During leave you do not receive your monthly salary but an annual leave allowance, equal to one twelfth of the total remuneration received over the reference period (article 52). It therefore includes the base salary and the work-related bonuses and allowances (performance, hazard, meal allowance if paid during leave under the agreement), which often makes it slightly higher than one month of base salary. It is subject to contributions and income tax like a salary. To check your amount, take your payslips from July to June, add up the gross, divide by 12. To go from gross to net, the gross-to-net salary simulator does the maths.

1. 1

   Add up the gross of the reference period

   The twelve payslips from 1 July to 30 June. If you joined during the year, add the actual months: the allowance is pro rata.

2. 2

   Divide by 12

   The result is the allowance for a full 30-day leave. For partial leave, the employer calculates pro rata to the days taken.

3. 3

   Check the payslip of the leave month

   The line should be called “annual leave allowance”. It replaces the salary of the leave days and is not an extra bonus.

4. 4

   Report any gap in writing

   An error on the allowance is common when a bonus was left out of the base. The claim goes to payroll, then to the labour inspectorate if needed.

Taking leave: who decides, splitting, carry-over

• The employer sets the departure schedule, taking the company’s needs and, as far as possible, your wishes into account (article 47). The employer cannot refuse the leave itself, only discuss its date.
• Splitting: leave may be taken in several parts with both sides’ agreement; at least one part must allow real rest. Agreements often provide a minimum of 15 consecutive days.
• Carry-over: leave not taken in the reference year does not vanish automatically, but the law organises no unlimited carry-over. Have any carry-over requested by the employer put in writing, or you risk “losing” disputed days.
• Cash-out: it is forbidden to replace leave with money during the contract (article 53). Only the end of the contract triggers payment of untaken days.
• Sickness during leave: a justified sick leave suspends the holiday; the corresponding days are carried over.
• Recall during leave: possible only for a compelling need, with reimbursement of costs incurred; your untaken days remain due.

Paid special leave: wedding, birth, death, pilgrimage

Article 54 of law 90-11 grants paid special absences of 3 working days for family events: the employee’s wedding, the birth of a child, the wedding of a descendant, the circumcision of a child, the death of the spouse, of an ascendant, a descendant or a first-degree collateral of the employee or their spouse. The same article provides, once in a career, 30 days of leave to perform the pilgrimage to the Holy Places. These days are added to annual leave, not deducted from it. Collective agreements may lengthen these durations, never shorten them. Maternity leave comes under social security: 14 weeks paid by CNAS, at least one of them before the expected date of birth.

In the South: at least 10 more days

Employees working in the southern wilayas (Adrar, Laghouat, Ouargla, Illizi, Tamanrasset, In Salah, Touggourt, El Meniaa and the other wilayas of the Great South) get additional leave that cannot be less than 10 days a year (article 41). On rotational oil sites this leave is in practice built into the 4×4 or 6×3 rhythm: check in your contract how the employer applies it. The working in the South guide details the rotations and the pay components.

Leaving the company: untaken leave is paid

At the end of the contract, whatever the reason (resignation, end of a fixed-term contract, dismissal, retirement), the employer must pay a compensatory allowance for all leave days earned and not taken, calculated on the same 1/12 basis. It appears on the final settlement. It is one of the points most often forgotten in a final settlement after resignation: count your days before signing. Under a fixed-term contract the calculation is pro rata to the months worked; the fixed-term vs permanent guide sums up the rights on departure.

Frequently asked questions