The Labour Act sets out leave entitlements in Belize, with specific timing requirements attached.
Annual leave
Employees are entitled to two weeks of annual leave once they have completed one year of continuous service.
Employers can decide when annual leave is taken, as stated in the Labour Act.
Carry-over is limited
Annual leave is not generally allowed to be carried over, unless leave could not be taken due to sickness or a failure on the employer's part to grant it.
That exception matters. If your employer never gave you the leave, the loss is not yours to bear.
When vacation pay is due
This is specific: where leave is taken in one period, the employer must pay the wages for that leave no later than the day before the leave commences.
Where leave is taken in two periods, half the pay is due the day before each period begins.
You should be paid before you go, not when you return.
Sick leave
Employees who have worked at least 60 days for the same employer within the last 12 months are entitled to paid sick leave.
The entitlement is 16 working days in a 12-month period, paid at wages corresponding to the last 16 days worked before the sick leave began.
The employer may request a medical certificate in writing.
Where Social Security applies to sickness
Where the employee is also entitled to Social Security benefits, the payment structure is layered:
- The first 3 days at the normal rate of wages
- The following 13 days at the difference between the Social Security entitlement and normal wages
- After that, only the Social Security entitlement
Maternity leave
14 weeks fully paid, taken as up to a maximum of 7 weeks before the expected date of confinement and the balance after.
Two weeks before and seven weeks after is mandatory.
Eligibility requires at least 150 days of employment with the same employer in the 12 months immediately preceding confinement.
If leave pay is refused
Try to resolve it with the employer first. If unresolved, file a complaint with the Ministry of Labour, which can investigate and take action.