Egyptian Labour Law Leave Entitlements: What Every HR Manager Must Know

Egyptian Labour Law No. 12 of 2003 sets out clear leave entitlements for all workers in the private sector. Getting these right isn't just good practice — it's a legal obligation. Here's a complete breakdown.

Annual Leave

Entitlement

Employees are entitled to 21 working days of paid annual leave per year, increasing to 30 days after 10 years of continuous service with any employer(s).

Conditions

• Employees completing less than one year of service are entitled to a proportional amount
• The employer may schedule leave in coordination with the employee
• Leave cannot be carried over for more than one year without employee consent
• Leave can be split into a maximum of two periods per year

Weekends and Public Holidays

Official weekends (Friday and Saturday) and public holidays falling within annual leave do not count toward the leave balance. Alpha HR automatically excludes these in day calculations.

Sick Leave

Entitlement

After completing 3 months of service, employees are entitled to sick leave:

| Period | Pay Rate | |---|---| | First month | 75% of salary | | Second and third month | 85% of salary | | Fourth through sixth month | Full salary |

Total entitlement: 90 days per year.

Conditions

• A medical certificate from a licensed doctor or government hospital is required
• The employer may request examination by a company-approved doctor
• Sick leave exceeding 6 months in one year may result in the employer offering an alternative position or termination with a severance

Emergency Leave

Employees are entitled to 6 days of emergency leave per year, taken in circumstances of genuine emergency. These days may be taken in full or as individual days and come out of the annual leave balance.

Key point: emergency leave days reduce the annual leave balance. If an employee has 21 days annual leave and takes 3 emergency leave days, they have 18 annual leave days remaining.

Maternity Leave

Female employees are entitled to 90 days of fully paid maternity leave per birth. This leave includes:

• Pre-natal period (as advised by a doctor)
• Post-natal recovery period
• Initial childcare period

Conditions

• The employee must have completed 10 months of continuous service before the expected birth date
• Maternity leave may be taken a maximum of 3 times throughout the employee's career
• The employer cannot terminate an employee on maternity leave

Paternity Leave (Unofficial)

While not codified in Labour Law No. 12/2003, many Egyptian companies provide 2–3 days of paternity leave as a benefit. Alpha HR allows companies to add custom leave types for this purpose.

Hajj Leave

Muslim employees who have not previously performed Hajj are entitled to one month of unpaid leave to perform the pilgrimage. This is a once-in-a-career entitlement and requires advance notice to the employer.

Setting Up Leave in Alpha HR

Alpha HR pre-seeds all of the above leave types automatically when a new company is created. The leave configuration table includes:

Annual Leave: 21 days, paid, accrues monthly
Sick Leave: 90 days per year, tiered pay
Emergency Leave: 6 days, deducted from annual
Maternity Leave: 90 days, full pay, max 3 times
Hajj Leave: 30 days, unpaid, once per career

Managers receive automatic email notifications when leave is submitted, and employees receive notifications when their request is approved or rejected.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Counting weekends in leave days — a 5-day leave across a Friday/Saturday is only 3 working days
2. Forgetting the 10-year threshold for the 30-day annual entitlement
3. Not tracking the Hajj entitlement — it's once-per-career, not annual
4. Confusing emergency leave with sick leave — they come from the same annual balance
5. Applying full pay for all sick leave — the tiered rate applies for the first 6 months

Keeping accurate records of leave balances and approvals protects both the company and its employees. Alpha HR's leave module handles all of this automatically.