More vacation days than most employers realise

The new benchmark: 3.3 times your weekly workdays

Under Aruba's Civil Code an employee's minimum paid annual leave is calculated as a multiple of the agreed number of workdays per week. That multiplier was raised from three to 3.3. For a standard five-day week this lifts the minimum from 15 to 16.5 days per year; for a six-day week it rises to 19.8 days. The change corrects a long-standing inequity in which employees on longer working weeks effectively received proportionally less rest.

Why it matters for your payroll and your risk

Vacation entitlement is a statutory minimum: an employment contract or handbook may grant more, but never less. Where leave records still apply the old 15-day figure, employees are quietly accruing a shortfall that surfaces on termination, when untaken leave must be paid out. Correcting the accrual now — rather than discovering it during an exit or a dispute — is far cheaper and avoids claims for back-pay of unused days.

Part of a broader alignment with Dutch civil law

The higher entitlement sits within a wider modernisation of Aruba's employment law towards the Dutch Civil Code model. For employers that operate across the Kingdom, that convergence is helpful: rules on leave, dismissal and employment terms increasingly resemble those in the European Netherlands. It also means Dutch-style case law and commentary are an ever more useful guide when a question is not squarely answered by Aruban text.

What we recommend employers do now

Review your leave policy and payroll settings against the 3.3 multiplier, recalculate current balances, and update contracts and staff handbooks so the entitlement is stated correctly. Where you already grant generous leave, you may already meet or exceed the new floor — but it is worth confirming in writing. We can audit your leave arrangements and flag any exposure before it becomes a liability.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Every situation is different, and we would be glad to review yours.