Angola Employment Law

The worker has the right, in each calendar year, to a period of paid vacation. An employee who has completed one year of employment with an employer is entitled to paid vacation for a period of 22 days. This period of leave is exclusive of weekends, compensatory rest days, and public holidays. In the first year of employment, annual vacation accrues at the rate of 2 days for each month of employment with the employer, up to a minimum of 6 working days of annual vacation in that particular year ( not more than 6 days can be accrued per month).

The employee is entitled to vacation on the 1st of January of each year and must take the mentioned vacation on or before the 31st of December of the same year. Exceptionally and at the request of the employee, or for reasons relating to the employer, the employer may authorize the vacation in question to be taken after December, but never after 31 March of the year following the year in which it was to be taken.

In the first year of employment with the employer, the employee cannot take a vacation. The right to vacation related to the work performed this year is acquired on the 1st of January of the following year and can be taken from the moment when six months of effective work are completed.

Female employees who have children under the age of 14 are entitled to increased vacation by one day for each child.

Part-time employees are entitled to annual vacation at the rate of 2 days per month. Fixed-term contract employees whose employment period (or renewal) does not exceed one year are entitled to 2 days of annual vacation per month. Disabled workers are entitled to 5 additional days of annual leave.

Holiday Plan – A holiday plan shall be organized in each workplace, in which all of the employees are included, with an indication of the start and end dates of the respective holiday period of holidays.

Accumulation of Vacation – Generally, an employee is not entitled to accumulate a vacation period, but employees who have family members living abroad can accumulate vacation time for a period of up to 2 or 3 years. Accumulation of vacation can also be done via an agreement between the employer and the employee, in case the employee wishes to spend their vacation abroad.

An employer who does not allow an employee to enjoy his annual vacation shall become entitled to pay double the remuneration for the amount of unused vacation and the employee shall be allowed to take the vacation before the end of the first quarter of the following year.

Annual Vacation Pay – An employee is entitled to full wages for the entire vacation period along with any other benefits that he/she might have accumulated during the year. Employees are also entitled to a bonus amount equal to 50% of the monthly salary is paid in addition to an employee. The payment is done before the beginning of the vacation period.

Sickness during annual vacation – If an employee falls sick during annual vacation, his/her vacation is suspended for a period of 5 business days if the employer is informed immediately about the situation. In such cases, it is the employer’s obligation to schedule when the employee should take the rest of the annual vacation.

Vacation in case of suspension of contract – An employee whose employment contract is suspended before he/she could take the vacation due in the year of suspension, because of reasons not related to the employee, he/she is entitled to the corresponding salary for the vacation period not taken.

Vacation in case of termination of the contract – In case of termination of employment, an employee is entitled to receive remuneration for a vacation period not taken by the employee in the year of termination, calculated at the rate of 2 days for each month of employment from January 1 until the date of termination. Art 129 – 140 and 252 of General Labor Law (No. 7/15 of 15 June 2015).

Effective January 1, 2022, the minimum wage is 32,181.15 kwanza per month.

An employee is entitled to take off from work in case of illness on the condition that he/she provides a medical certificate as proof for absence from work.

Employees shall be paid for the first 2 months at the rate of 100% of the normal salary and 50% of the salary between the third and 12th month in the case of large companies. In medium companies, employers shall pay 50% of the normal salary for 90 days, a post that the employment agreement is no longer valid if the employee’s illness is continued. Art 149 of General Labor Law (No. 7/15 of 15 June 2015).

A female employee is entitled to 3 months of unpaid leave. The leave can start 4 weeks before the expected date of delivery and 9 weeks of maternity leave can be taken after the birth of the child. The leave is paid by the social security supplemented by the employer, if necessary.

In the case of abortion, stillbirth, or death of the newborn child, the female employee is entitled to unpaid leave for 6 weeks calculated from the date of occurrence of such event. In case of multiple births, the postnatal leave for an employee is increased by a period of 4 weeks. If the birth takes place after the expected date of delivery, the period of leave is extended by the necessary period to last at least 9 weeks after the birth of the child.

After the maternity leave ends, a female employee can be provided another 4 weeks of supplementary period of leave to take care of the child. This leave is unpaid and can only be availed via an agreement with the employer.

Breastfeeding break – A female employee is entitled to two paid periods of 30 minutes each for breastfeeding when the child during the working hours of the employee is within the workplace or in the employer’s nursery school. In case, the child is not present within the workplace, the employer can provide a break for 1 hour, or the employee and the employer can enter into an agreement for reduced daily normal working hours for a period of up to 12 months. §5-7 of the Presidential Decree on Maternity Protection (No. 8/11of 7 January 2011), Art 246 – 247 of General Labor Law (No. 7/15 of 15 June 2015).

An employee is entitled to one day of paid leave at the time of the birth of his child. Art 145 of General Labor Law (No. 7/15 of 15 June 2015).

An employee is entitled to unpaid leave for a period of 60 days for education or training, but such leave can be denied by the employer if any of the following conditions are applicable to the employee –

• • • The employee was given adequate training for the same purpose in the last 24 months;
    • The employer has less than 3 years of employment with the company;
    • The employee did not provide adequate notice to the employer;
    • The employee cannot be replaced adequately in a company with fewer than 20 employees etc.

Art 142 of General Labor Law (No. 7/15 of 15 June 2015).

Marriage Leave – An employee is entitled to a paid leave of absence not exceeding 10 days for marriage purposes.

Leave for Legal Obligations – An employer shall provide leave for a paid period of at least 2 days per month up to a maximum of 8 days in one calendar year to employees in order to comply with legal obligations in relation to the judiciary, military, police, or other authorities with identical powers.

Care Leave – An employee is entitled to paid leave in order to provide care in case of sickness or injury to their spouse, parents, or underage children for a maximum period of 8 working days. Such leave of absence can be extended, however, employers do not have an obligation to pay for extended leave.

Sports and Cultural Activities Leave – An employee can be granted paid leave by an employer for a maximum period of 8 days in a calendar year for sports or cultural activities if it has to be performed within the normal working hours.

Trade Union Leave – An employee is entitled to paid leave for 4 days in each month for exercising powers as an executive member of a trade union and 4 or 5 paid hours per month for union delegates of a trade union with at least 200 or more employees in the workplace. Extra leave can also be provided in such cases but is not required to be paid by the employer.

Bereavement Leave – An employee is entitled to leave to 8 days of paid leave in case of the death of a spouse or partner, parents, children, and other members of the household and 3 days in the case of the death of uncles, birds, in-laws, children, grandchildren, genres and daughters-in-law. The employer can also allow an employee to attend a funeral for a relative not mentioned above it can be justified. The compensation in such cases can be paid or unpaid at the discretion of the employer. Art 145 – 152 of General Labor Law (No. 7/15 of 15 June 2015).