REMINDER

Holidays in Senegal are regulated by the labor code in its articles L.148 to L. 155. However, it should be noted that sectoral collective agreements, when they exist, take precedence when they are more favorable to the worker.

The legislator has chosen to protect the worker by favoring the most favorable collective agreements. This is indeed the spirit of labor law, which is a protective right for the supposed weaker party in an employment contract, namely the employee.

THE COMMON LAW OF ACCRUING LEAVE IN SENEGAL

In principle, every employee is entitled to 2 working days’ leave, after a period of one month’s actual work (cf. art. L.148 of the French Labor Code). This duration is increased considering the worker’s seniority (cf. practices in force in the company, collective agreements). Furthermore, mothers have an additional day per year and per child under 14 years old registered in the civil registry.

The worker is entitled to 10 days/year of exceptional leave for family events directly affecting their own household. These 10 days are in no case deductible from the annual paid leave of 30 days (Art.149 labor code).

The worker also has the right to 15 days not deductible from the annual paid leave of 30 days to:

• Attend an official training course in international popular education and sports
• Attend trade union congresses to which they are delegated under a regular mandate.

The worker acquires the right to enjoy leave after a minimum period of effective service of 12 months. This period is called the reference period. This 30-day leave is paid, and the due allowances are equal to 1/12 of the amounts received during the so-called reference period. These allowances paid to the employee at the time of their departure on leave do not include housing allowance and allowances having the character of reimbursement of expenses or benefits in kind incidentally related to employment.

Also, the worker may, by mutual agreement with their employer, postpone their leave, provided that the postponement does not exceed 3 years and subject to a mandatory annual leave of 6 working days (Art.150 labor code). These 6 days will be deducted from the 30 days in the calculation of leave days.

However, it should be noted that if the worker is a displaced person who takes their leave outside their place of employment, the duration of the leave is increased by the travel time corresponding to the round trip duration (Art. L. 153-7 labor code) unless transportation is provided by the worker (Art.158-3 and 4 labor code).

FISCAL ASPECT OF LEAVE IN SENEGAL

In taxation, there is often a discrepancy between the period of enjoyment of leave and the year of their provision.

Thus, in principle, provisions for paid leave are not deductible from the taxable profit of the company (Art.11.1 CGI).

Provisions for paid leave are deductible from taxable profit only if there is effective enjoyment of leave by the beneficiaries and if the leave is attributable to the fiscal year during which they were granted. Le contribuable visé devra produire le relevé des provisions (cf. art. 31. 4-2 CGI).