Fewer personal days?

If a worker requests to enjoy personal days, the company must check their collective agreement. This type of leave is not included in the Workers' Statute, so it can only be enjoyed if it is provided for in the agreement. Furthermore, if the agreement does include them, it must be checked whether it expressly regulates when they are accrued. If it does not indicate anything, the principle of proportionality must be applied:

• Do not grant the same number of days to someone who has only worked part of the year as to someone who has worked all twelve months.

• Personal days constitute a leave of free disposition linked to working time and, therefore, their duration can be proportionally reduced.

The regulation of personal days is different from that of compensated leave for specific reasons –such as marriage, the death of a relative, or hospitalization–. Proportionality cannot be applied to any absence of the worker. For these purposes:

• Compensated leave that responds to a specific event that, if it occurs, gives the right to enjoy it is not reduced.
• Personal days that allow the worker to freely dispose of certain days without the need to justify the reason are indeed reduced (courts consider that they are related to the time actually worked).

It is also advisable to review whether the agreement classifies personal days as compensated. Normally, this occurs when they are regulated within the chapter of compensated leave (or of vacations) and there is another specific section for unpaid leave. If the agreement does not expressly state that they are compensated, the hours of absence must be made up so that, at the end of the year, the worker has completed the annual working hours provided for in the agreement.