Leave and pay in Egypt 2026: annual, sick, maternity and other leave under Labour Law 14/2025

Under Labour Law 14/2025 a private-sector employee in Egypt gets 15 days' paid annual leave in the first year, 21 days from the second year, 30 days after ten years' service or from age 50, and 45 days for persons with disabilities. Sick leave is paid through social insurance at 75% of the insured wage for the first 90 days and 85% after that; maternity leave is four months, up to three times, with the social-insurance benefit deducted from what the employer pays. Unused annual leave must be paid out when employment ends.

Annual leave

Article 124 sets the entitlement by length of service and some personal circumstances. Public holidays and weekly rest days are not counted as leave days.

Situation	Paid annual leave
First year of service (entitlement starts after 6 months)	15 days
From the second year	21 days
10 years' service with one or more employers, or age 50 and above	30 days
Persons with disabilities and persons of short stature	45 days
Hazardous or remote work (as defined by ministerial decree)	+7 days

Rules around the entitlement:

• The employer sets the dates according to the needs of the work, but at least six days a year must be taken in one block. The employee's request for leave that was refused in writing without a valid reason is the usual evidence in a dispute.
• Leave is paid at the full wage, including fixed allowances.
• Casual leave (below) is deducted from the annual balance.
• The employer must settle the balance, in days or in cash, at least once every three years. Egyptian sources differ on how much can be carried forward in between (two years is the figure most often quoted); set a written policy.
• If the contract ends before the balance is used, the employee is paid the cash value of the remaining days. If the employee refused leave offered in writing, the right to pay in lieu can be lost; keep the written offers.

Casual leave

Up to 7 days a year, no more than 2 consecutive days at a time, for urgent matters the employee cannot plan. No prior approval is needed, but the employee must notify the employer as soon as possible. Casual days are deducted from the annual leave balance.

Sick leave

Article 131 refers sick leave to the medical authority and to the Social Insurance and Pensions Law 148/2019. In practice:

• The employee needs a certificate from the competent medical body (the health-insurance clinic the employer is registered with, or the authority's doctor).
• Pay during sickness is an insurance benefit, not a salary. Under article 76 of Law 148/2019 the National Organisation for Social Insurance pays 75% of the daily insured wage for the first 90 days of sickness and 85% after that, never less than the minimum wage, for up to 180 days in a calendar year. For a chronic illness the benefit is the full insured wage until recovery, fitness to work or a disability pension.
• The employer deducts the sick days from the payroll (the benefit is claimed from the insurance office) unless its own policy is to pay full salary. Many Egyptian employers pay full pay for short absences and claim nothing; the law does not require that, but once written into a policy or contract it is binding.
• The employee may ask to use annual leave instead of sick leave.

Maternity leave

Article 54 gives a female employee who has worked for the employer for at least ten months four months' maternity leave, including the period before and after the birth, with at least 45 days after the birth, and not more than three times during her service. The leave is paid at the full wage; the employer deducts from that pay the amount the social-insurance system covers.

The social-insurance side (Law 148/2019, article 77): the authority pays a maternity benefit of 75% of the insured wage for the period of maternity leave set by the Labour Law, to an insured woman with at least ten months of contributions, up to three times during her insured life. The employer therefore pays the remaining 25% of the insured wage plus any difference between the insured wage and the actual wage.

After returning, a nursing mother is entitled to two paid breaks of at least half an hour each a day (or one hour) for 24 months, counted as working time. Establishments with 50 or more employees must grant unpaid childcare leave of up to two years, up to three times during service.

Paternity, pilgrimage and study leave

Leave	Entitlement
Child-birth day (father)	1 paid day on the day of the birth, up to 3 times during service, not deducted from annual leave
Pilgrimage (Hajj) or visiting Jerusalem	1 month with full pay, once in the whole working life, after 5 consecutive years with the employer
Exams	Paid leave for the actual exam days for an employee enrolled in an educational institution, with notice to the employer of at least 10 days (sources differ on whether a shorter notice means the days come out of annual leave)
Marriage, death of a relative	Not fixed by the law; usually 3 days each in company policies or collective agreements and taken from casual leave otherwise

Paying out unused leave

Payment in lieu is calculated on the full wage at the date of termination: monthly wage ÷ 30 × remaining days (some firms use 26 working days; the law does not fix the divisor, so write it into the policy). The amount is wage for tax and social-insurance purposes in the month it is paid.

Try it in the calculator

Common mistakes

• Starting the 21-day tier too early. The first year carries 15 days; the 21 days apply from the start of the second year of service.
• Missing the age-50 and disability tiers. Payroll systems set up on "years of service" alone under-allocate leave to employees who turn 50 and to employees with disabilities.
• Paying sick leave at full salary and claiming it from insurance as well. If you pay full pay, the social-insurance benefit is still the employee's; agree in the policy whether it is assigned to the company.
• Counting weekends and public holidays inside a leave block. They are not leave days.
• Forgetting that the leave payout is taxable. It is part of the wage and goes through social insurance (up to the ceiling) and the tax brackets in the month it is paid.
• Treating the 10-month condition as applying to the leave. The ten months of contributions condition belongs to the insurance benefit; check the current wording of article 54 before using it to refuse maternity leave.

FAQ

Can the employer refuse annual leave?

The employer fixes the timing according to the needs of the work but cannot refuse the leave altogether; six days a year must be taken in one block and the balance settled at least every three years. A written refusal of a request is what makes payment in lieu safe when the employee leaves.

Is sick pay taxable?

The social-insurance sick benefit is not salary and is paid by the authority; it is not part of the employer's payroll. Any top-up the employer pays voluntarily is wage and is taxed normally.

Does maternity leave count for annual leave and the annual raise?

Yes. Maternity leave is a period of service: annual leave continues to accrue and the 3% annual raise falls due on the usual date.

What happens to leave when an employee moves to a new employer?

The balance is settled in cash on exit. Service with previous employers still counts towards the ten years that unlock 30 days, if the employee can prove it (insurance record), so ask new joiners for their insurance history.

How does SalaryEG treat a leave payout?

Enter it as an addition in the final month; SalaryEG adds it to gross, applies the 2026 insurance ceiling and the tax brackets, and shows the net and employer cost.

Sources

• Labour Law 14/2025, Official Gazette issue 18 bis, 3 May 2025, articles 54–57 (women), 124–131 (leave) (Arabic text via Eastlaws).
• Social Insurance and Pensions Law 148/2019, articles 76–77 (sickness and maternity benefits); National Organisation for Social Insurance, maternity benefit for private-sector insured women (NOSI).
• EY Global Tax Alert, "Egypt enacts new labor law affecting employers from 1 September 2025" (link).
• Amereller, "Egypt: New Labor Law No. 14 of 2025" (link).
• Clyde & Co, "New Labour Law issued in Egypt", May 2025 (link).
• Lockton, "Egypt adopts comprehensive new labor law" (link).
• WUZZUF, "Leave in the new Egyptian labor law: what has changed?" (link).