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Last updated on: February 23rd, 2023

Labor Requirements

The Labour Law in Aruba is regulated mainly by the Labor Ordinance (Arbeidsverordening) 2013 (last amended as of 2021). The Ordinance governs the terms and conditions of employment such as working hours, holidays and rest periods, wages and other employment conditions. The other regulation which governs the employment relationship is the Holiday Ordinance, Civil code of 1989 (last amended as of 2021).

Hours & Pay Regulations

Normal Working Hours

The normal working hours for employees with a 6-day working week shall not exceed 45 hours per week and 8 hours per day. In the case of a 5-day workweek, the normal working hours shall not exceed 40 hours per week and 8 hours per day. And in the case of employees with a 4-day working week, the normal working hours shall not exceed 36 hours per week and 9 hours per day.

 

In exceptional cases, where it is necessary for the performance of activities in a particular organization, the government authority may allow weekly working hours up to a maximum of 60 hours per week inclusive of overtime work.

 

On call refers to the time period between 2 consecutive shifts or during the break. An employee who is required to provide on-call services should be reachable as soon as possible in order to perform the work as may have arisen in unforeseen circumstances.

      • On-call hours worked should be considered overtime and be paid a 50% premium.
      • At least 30 minutes have to be paid per call. If the employee is called again within 30 minutes after the end of the previous call, the working hours between the two calls are considered to be continuous working hours.
      • On-call employees, whether they perform work or not perform work during the on-call hour shall be entitled to an additional premium payment of at least 1% of their gross monthly wages per day.

 

Shift Work – Work performed between 6 am and 12 am according to a periodic work schedule on work days and times based on the nature of business of the employer is considered shift work. Labor Ordinance, 2013 (last amended as of 2021), Art. 1, 8 – 9 and 25.

 

Recording Requirements – An employer shall maintain a record of the overtime worked by the employees in the past 12 months along with the dates on which the overtime work was performed, the duration of the overtime worked, and the compensation given for the overtime work. The employer is also obliged to maintain a register with a record of the annual vacation taken by each employee. Labor Ordinance, 2013 (last amended as of 2021), Art. 31 and Holiday Ordinance (last amended as of 2021), Art. 14

Overtime

Any work performed beyond normal working hours is considered overtime. An employee’s working time including overtime work shall not exceed 12 hours per day. The weekly working hours inclusive of overtime shall not exceed 55 hours calculated over a reference period of 4 weeks.

 

Any overtime works up to 15 minutes is not considered overtime. And overtime work in a fraction of a minute is always rounded up to the nearest half an hour. For example, overtime work performed as of 15 minutes should be rounded to 0.5 hours (30 minutes).

 

In cases, where an employee has worked for more than 10 hours per day, the employee shall be entitled to a hot meal or a meal allowance and any additional transportation costs incurred in connection with the overtime work.

 

Pay – An employee who performs overtime work is entitled to a premium of 50% on regular wages. 

 

Compensatory time off – An employee and employer may also agree via an agreement to take compensatory paid time off in lieu of overtime wages i.e. 1.5 hours of time off in lieu of each hour of overtime work performed.  The employer and employee may decide to take the compensatory time off in whole or part depending upon the allowances as may have been decided between the parties. Labor Ordinance, 2013 (last amended as of 2021), Art.  13 – 17.

Night Work

Night work is work performed between 12 am and 6 am. Employees are required to perform at least 4 hours of work during the night period to be considered night work. The working hours excluding breaks shall be a maximum of 8 hours per night shift. 

 

The employer shall arrange the working schedule in such a manner that a particular employee does not work more than 14 times in the night shift in a period of 4 consecutive weeks.

 

Employees performing night shift work shall be entitled to receive an uninterrupted rest period of at least 12 hours in case the shift starts after 2 pm and ends after 2 am or the night shift ends before or at 2 am. However, once in a consecutive period of 7 days, the rest period can be reduced to 8 hours.

 

Employees who perform 6 consecutive weeks of work during the night shift shall be entitled to an uninterrupted rest period of at least 48 hours. Labor Ordinance, 2013 (last amended as of 2021), Art.  26.

Breaks

An employee whose working hours are for more than 6 hours per day is entitled to an unpaid break of at least 30 minutes after a maximum of 5 hours of work. Any break of fewer than 15 minutes shall not be counted as a break.

 

Work during break time – An employee shall not be required to work during break time. In case, an employee performs work during the break time, it shall be considered as overtime work.

 

Pay – An employee who works during break time shall be entitled to a premium of 50% on regular wages. An employee and employer may also agree via an agreement to take compensatory paid time off in lieu of overtime wages. Labor Ordinance, 2013 (last amended as of 2021), Art. 12.

 

Daily Rest – An employee is entitled to at least 11 hours of rest from work per day inclusive of the time period between 12 am and 6 am of the following day. Labor Ordinance, 2013 (last amended as of 2021), Art. 10.

 

Weekly Rest – An employee is generally entitled to 1 day of rest per week on Sunday. Labor Ordinance, 2013 (last amended as of 2021), Art.10, 16 – 17.

Work On Rest Days

An employee who performs work on a weekly rest day shall be entitled to a 50% premium on the regular rate of pay.

 

Overtime on Rest Day – An employee who performs overtime work for the entire day of the weekly rest period is entitled to a premium of 100% on regular wages. An employee who performs work for half of a weekly rest day is entitled to a premium of 75%. 

 

Compensatory Time off – An employee and employer may also agree via an agreement to take compensatory paid time off in lieu of overtime wages i.e. 1.5 hours of time off in lieu of each hour of overtime work performed. The employer and employee may decide to take the compensatory time off in whole or part depending upon the allowances as may have been decided between the parties.

 

An employee who has been called to work on a scheduled day off shall be paid for at least 3 hours at the overtime rate, even if the work performed is less than 3 hours. Labor Ordinance, 2013 (last amended as of 2021), Art.10, 16 – 17.

Public Holidays

Employees are entitled to the following 11 public holidays:

      • New Year’s Day – January 1
      • G.F.Betico Croes Day- January 25
      • Carnival
      • National Anthem and Flag Day – March 18
      • Good Friday
      • Easter Monday
      • King’s Birthday – Apr 27
      • Ascension Day
      • Christmas Day – Dec 25
      • Boxing Day – Dec 26

     

    In case, Labor day falls on a public holiday or on a Sunday, the employees are entitled to a substitute day off on the following day.

     

    Work on a Public Holiday –  The work performed by an employee during the public holiday is considered overtime.

     

    Pay – An employee who performs work on a public holiday is entitled to a premium of 150% on regular wages.

     

    Compensatory Time off – An employee and employer may also agree via an agreement to take compensatory paid time off in lieu of overtime wages i.e. 1.5 hours of time off in lieu of each hour of overtime work performed. The employer and employee may decide to take the compensatory time off in whole or part depending upon the allowances as may have been decided between the parties. Labor Ordinance, 2013 (last amended as of 2021), Art. 10, 16, 21, and 22.

    Annual Leave

    An employee shall be entitled to annual leave after continuous employment with the same employer for a period of 1 year.

     

    Employees with a 5-day working week shall be entitled to 16.5 working days of annual leave (3.3 multiplied by 5). Accordingly, employees with a 6-day working week shall be entitled to 19.8 working days of annual leave (3.3 multiplied by 6).

     

    The above formula also applies if the working hours have not been agreed in ‘working days’ but in working hours. The formula for the minimum number of holiday hours per year then becomes – 3.3 multiplied by the number of working hours per week. The formula for calculating the minimum vacation days per year is 3.3 multiplied by the number of working days per week. 

     

    The holiday entitlement for a past year will lapse in case the employee has been absent from work during that year –

        • For a total of at least 6 months due to illness or accident;
        • For the purpose of complying with legal obligations in total for at least 6 weeks.

       

      In case of absence from work without permission from the employer and without a valid reason, the employee loses the right to a corresponding part of annual vacation.

       

      Pay – During the period of annual vacation, the employees are entitled to regular wages which would have been provided by the employer in case the annual vacation was not taken.

       

      Split of annual vacation – Annual vacation must be granted in a continuous manner, however, at the request of the employee, the vacation can be split but at least half of the holiday shall be granted continuously.

       

      The timing of the commencement of annual vacation as well as the periods in which the holidays can be split shall be decided by the employer keeping in consideration the interests of the organization and employees.

       

      Withdrawal of annual vacation – The employer may at the request of the employee or because of reasons related to the interests of the organization withdraw the annual leave and grant it at a later date. If the withdrawal of annual leave is done on a day on which the employee could only enjoy half-day leave, in such a case, the partial day of annual leave shall not be counted as a holiday.

       

      Illness during annual vacation – An employee who is unfit at the time of commencement of annual vacation or becomes ill during the vacation period, in such a case, the portion of the annual leave is considered withdrawn and can be taken at a later date.

       

      An employee who has become entitled to annual vacation but has not yet taken it and another entitlement to annual leave arises, in such cases, the annual leaves can be combined together to a maximum of 6 times the number of working days in a week. The employer is under obligation to allow the employee to take the combined period of annual vacation within 3 months of request from the employee.

       

      The combined annual vacation shall be granted continuously and cannot be deferred or withdrawn except in case of illness of the employee, in which case, the amount of leave not availed shall be granted on the day following the employee’s recovery from illness.

       

      Termination of employment – In case of termination of the employment relationship, an employee shall be paid for the amount of annual leave not taken. This will also include the claim to compensation for the proportional number of vacation days over the period during which the employee has been continuously employed by the same employer and has not enjoyed the annual vacation. While calculating the number of vacation days, a part of a day is counted as a whole day.

       

      Vacation days may not be bought off except for when there are vacation days in excess of the statutory minimum and upon the termination of employment. Holiday Ordinance, 1989 (last amended as of 2021), Art. 2 – 9.

      Special Leave

      Sick Leave

      An employee who is unable to work due to illness is entitled to sickness compensation. The employee shall pay the employee 100% of daily wages for the first 3 days of sickness post which the sickness compensation is covered by the Social Security Bank of Aruba (SVb). 

       

      The SVb pays an amount equal to 80% of an employee’s daily wages from the 4th day of sickness. The right to sickness compensation for the same cause of disease expires after 2 years. This 2 years period starts from the first time the employee reports sick to SVb for this specific sickness. To be considered for compensation, the employee must comply with the following requirements:

          • The employee must be registered at the SVb.
          • The illness for which the employee calls in sick did not exist prior to entering into employment.
          • The employee must meet the sickness notification requirements.

        The employee is not entitled to compensation if the illness is due to an intentional act or gross negligence, or due to the use of alcohol or intoxicants on the part of the employee. https://www.government.aw/information-public-services/hiring-people_47940/item/employee-insurance_43532.html

         

        Maternity Leave

        An employee is entitled to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave. The employee can divide the leave in 4 to 6 weeks before the estimated date of delivery and the rest of the leave after the childbirth.

        To be considered for maternity leave, the female employee:

            • Must be registered at the SVb.
            • Must inform the SVb to make use of the right of compensation, at least 2 months before the start of the maternity leave, and thus at least 3 months before the estimated date of birth.
            • Must submit a written statement from a doctor or midwife regarding the estimated date of birth.

          Pay – The Social Security (SVb) pays the employee at the rate of 100% of daily wages for the entire duration of maternity leave.

          https://www.government.aw/information-public-services/hiring-people_47940/item/employee-insurance_43532.html

           

          Paternity Leave

          A male employee is entitled to 2 days paid paternity leave which shall be taken within 4 weeks after the child is brought home, provided that the employee is married or has a long-term (at least 1 year) cohabitation with the mother of the child.

          Disclaimer: The material provided above is for informational purposes only and is subject to change. We endeavor to keep all material up-to-date and correct but make no representations about the information's completeness, accuracy, or reliability. Laws vary by jurisdiction and are subject to change and interpretation based on individual factors that may differ between organizations. The material is not meant to constitute legal advice and we suggest you seek the advice of legal counsel in connection with any of the information presented.