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(a) eight days for every twelve months of continuous service with the same employer if he has been employed by that employer for a period of less than two years;

(b) twelve days for every twelve months of continuous service with the same employer if he has been employed by that employer for a period of two years or more but less than five years; and

(c ) sixteen days for every twelve months of continuous service with the same employer if he has been employed by that employer for a period of five years or more;

and if he has not completed twelve months of continuous service with the same employer during the year in which his contract of service terminates, his entitlement to paid annual leave shall be in direct proportion to the number of completed months of service:

Provided that any fraction of a day of annual leave so calculated which is less than one-half of a day shall be disregarded, and where the fraction of a day is one-half or more it shall be deemed to be one day.

And provided further that where an employee absents himself from work without the permission of his employer and without reasonable excuse for more than ten per centum of the working days during the twelve months of continuous service in respect of which his entitlement to such leave accrues he shall not be entitled to such leave.

(1A) The paid annual leave to which an employee is entitled under subsection (1) shall be in addition to rest days and paid holidays.

(1B) Where an employee who is on paid annual leave becomes entitled to sick leave or maternity leave while on such annual leave, the employee shall be granted the sick leave or the maternity leave, as the case may be, and the annual leave shall be deemed to have not been taken in respect of the days for which sick leave or maternity leave is so granted.

(2) The employer shall grant and the employee shall take such leave not later than twelve months after the end of every twelve months continuous service and any employee who fails to take such leave at the end of such period shall thereupon cease to be entitled thereto:

Provided that an employee shall be entitled to payment in lieu of such annual leave if, at the request of his employer, he agrees in writing not to avail himself of any or all of his annual leave entitlement.

(2A) Notwithstanding subsection (2), upon the termination of an employee's contract of service, the employee shall be entitled to take before such termination takes place the paid annual leave due to be taken in the year in which the termination takes place in respect of the twelve months of service preceding the year in which the termination takes place, and, in addition, the leave accrued in respect of the completed months of service during the year in which the termination takes place.

(3) The employer shall pay the employee his ordinary rate of pay for every day of paid annual leave, and an employee on a monthly rate of pay shall be deemed to have received the annual leave pay if he receives his monthly wages, without abatement in respect of such annual leave, for the month in which he takes such annual leave.

(3A) If the contract of service has been terminated by either party before an employee has taken the paid annual leave to which he is entitled under this section, the employer shall pay the employee his ordinary rate of pay in respect of every day of such leave.

Provided that this subsection shall not apply where an employee is dismissed under section 14(1)(a).

(3B) Where an employee is granted leave of absence without pay by his employer during any period of twelve months and the period of absence exceeds in the aggregate thirty days, that period of leave of absence shall be disregarded for the purpose of computing his length of service with the employer under this section.

(4) The Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, fix the periods when and prescribe the manner in which annual leave shall be granted to employees in different types of employment or in different classes of industries.