If you employ staff in Argentina, paid annual leave is not something you negotiate around the kitchen table — it is a hard floor written into the Ley de Contrato de Trabajo (LCT 20.744). Get the seniority ladder wrong, miss the eligibility threshold, or fail to pay out untaken days on termination and you are looking at a wage claim that can land in front of the labour courts.

This guide explains how annual leave (vacaciones) works in Argentina in 2026 — the 14-to-35-day seniority ladder, who qualifies, what employers have to do, and the pitfalls that catch out international payroll teams. Facts come from articles 150 to 158 of the Ley de Contrato de Trabajo (Ley 20.744).

Key Takeaways

Argentine annual leave is set by the Ley de Contrato de Trabajo, articles 150 to 158.
The statutory minimum is 14 calendar days for less than 5 years of service, rising to 21 days at 5–10 years, 28 days at 10–20 years, and 35 days for more than 20 years.
Employees need to have worked at least half the working days of the calendar year to qualify for the full annual entitlement.
Below the six-month threshold the entitlement is pro-rated at one day per 20 days worked.
Employers must pay normal remuneration during leave and pay out untaken leave on termination.

The Statutory Entitlement: A Seniority Ladder From 14 to 35 Days

Under article 150 of the Ley de Contrato de Trabajo, every employee on a formal employment contract is entitled to an uninterrupted block of paid annual leave. The number of days is fixed by length of service with the same employer:

Length of service	Minimum annual leave
Less than 5 years	14 calendar days
5 to 10 years	21 calendar days
10 to 20 years	28 calendar days
More than 20 years	35 calendar days

The entitlement is expressed in calendar days (días corridos), not working days. Weekends inside the leave block are part of the count — there is no “plus weekends on top” rule the way some European systems work. The schedule is a floor: collective bargaining agreements (convenios colectivos de trabajo) and individual contracts can run higher, but they cannot go below.

The seniority jumps are large. An employee who crosses the five-year mark moves from 14 to 21 days — a 50% jump in entitlement overnight. Crossing 10 years is another 33% on top of that. International HR systems imported from countries with flat 20-day minimums frequently miss these step-changes, and the gap quietly accrues as a wage liability.

Who Is Eligible

Argentine eligibility runs on a calendar-year minimum-service test, not a simple anniversary clock.

To qualify for the full statutory entitlement under article 151, the employee must have worked at least half the working days of the calendar year in which the leave is taken. In practical terms, that maps to roughly six months of effective service inside the same calendar year.

If the employee has not yet reached that threshold — for example, a recent hire still in their first half-year — they do not lose the right to leave. Instead, article 153 grants a pro-rated entitlement of one day of leave for every 20 days worked. This is the rule that catches out employers who assume new starters get nothing.

The right applies regardless of role, salary level, or contract type, provided the worker is on a subordinate employment relationship governed by the LCT. Independent contractors operating outside the LCT framework do not qualify, but Argentine labour courts routinely reclassify misclassified contractors and award full back-pay for vacaciones, the aguinaldo, and statutory severance.

Employer Obligations Under the LCT

Argentine law puts a series of positive duties on the employer — not just allowing time off, but organising it and paying for it correctly.

1. Grant the Statutory Minimum Based on Service

You must allow each employee the minimum number of days for their length of service: 14, 21, 28, or 35 calendar days. A contract clause that gives less is void. The worker keeps the LCT floor regardless of what they signed.

2. Pay Normal Remuneration During Leave

Under the LCT, leave must be paid at the employee’s normal remuneration, including regular allowances and supplements that form part of usual pay. Stripping a worker back to base salary while on vacaciones, or excluding routine supplements, is a wage breach.

3. Pay Out Untaken Leave on Termination

When an employment contract ends — whether by resignation, dismissal, or mutual agreement — you must include in the final settlement a payout for accrued but untaken annual leave. There is no forfeiture. Pro-rated leave for the incomplete current year is also payable.

4. Do Not Require a Waiver

Article 162 of the LCT prohibits substituting annual leave for cash payment while the employment relationship is ongoing. The worker has to actually rest. You cannot ask, encourage, or pressure an employee to “sell back” their leave during the relationship — the right exists for the rest, not the money.

5. Schedule Leave Inside the Statutory Window

The LCT expects leave to be granted within the calendar year in which it accrued. Carrying balances forward is the exception, not the rule, and is permitted only by agreement.

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How the Pro-Rated Rule Works

The one-day-per-20-days-worked formula in article 153 is worth unpacking, because it is the rule that turns up most often in payroll questions.

A worker who joins on, say, 1 September will not have hit the half-year-of-the-calendar-year threshold by 31 December. The LCT says they get one day of paid leave for every 20 days actually worked in that partial period. Run the maths and a four-month tenure typically lands somewhere between four and six pro-rated days, depending on the working pattern.

The same logic flows through to termination. Leave for the incomplete year is calculated against the worker’s tenure to the termination date and paid in cash as part of the liquidación final. Forgetting this step is one of the cleanest ways to lose a labour court case in Argentina.

Annual Leave Pay

Annual leave pay (remuneración de las vacaciones) is built off the worker’s normal remuneration. That includes:

Base salary.
Regular allowances and supplements that form part of ordinary pay.
Variable components when they are habitual and form a routine part of remuneration.

Argentina also operates a sueldo anual complementario (the 13th-month payment, also called the aguinaldo) under separate rules. The aguinaldo is independent of vacaciones — make sure your payroll engine handles them as separate calculations and does not double-count or net them off.

Common Pitfalls

International employers and Argentine SMEs trip over the same set of issues. Avoid these:

Running a flat 20-day policy. The LCT is a seniority ladder, not a flat number. A 20-day policy under-pays employees with under five years of service and over 10 years of service alike.
Missing the seniority step-changes. Five, ten, and twenty years are hard thresholds. The day count moves as soon as the worker crosses them — not at the start of the next calendar year.
Treating new hires as ineligible. Employees below the half-year-of-calendar-year threshold are still entitled to one day per 20 days worked under article 153.
Skipping the termination payout. Untaken vacaciones are payable in cash on termination. There is no forfeiture, and resignations are no exception.
Confusing calendar days with working days. Argentine vacaciones are measured in calendar days. Weekends inside the block do not extend the entitlement.
Asking workers to “sell” their leave. Article 162 prohibits cash-substitution while the contract is ongoing.

For a wider regional view, see our guides to annual leave entitlement in Brazil, annual leave entitlement in Mexico, and annual leave entitlement in Portugal for a side-by-side picture of how Argentina compares to other Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking systems.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many days of paid annual leave do employees get in Argentina?

The Ley de Contrato de Trabajo sets a seniority ladder. Employees with less than 5 years of service get 14 calendar days, 5 to 10 years get 21 days, 10 to 20 years get 28 days, and more than 20 years get 35 days.

What law sets annual leave in Argentina?

Annual leave is set by the Ley de Contrato de Trabajo No. 20.744, articles 150 to 158. The Ministry of Labour publishes guidance on its application.

Are the days calendar days or working days?

Calendar days (días corridos). Weekends and public holidays inside the leave block count toward the entitlement.

What if an employee has worked less than a full year?

If the employee has not worked at least half the working days of the calendar year, the LCT pro-rates leave at one day for every 20 days worked under article 153.

Can annual leave be carried forward?

Unused leave is expected to be taken within the calendar year. Carry-over is permitted only by agreement between employer and employee.

What happens to unused leave on termination?

Untaken annual leave must be paid out in cash as part of the liquidación final on termination. This applies to resignations, dismissals, and mutual agreements alike.

Can employees sell their annual leave back to the employer?

No. Article 162 of the LCT prohibits substituting annual leave for cash while the employment relationship is ongoing. The right is to actually rest.

How Leave Balance Helps With Argentine Compliance

Tracking the LCT seniority ladder, applying the half-year eligibility test, pro-rating leave at one day per 20 days worked, and settling untaken vacaciones at termination is exactly the kind of admin Argentine HR teams should not be running on a spreadsheet.

Leave Balance handles it for you:

Country-specific accrual rules for Argentina, with the 14/21/28/35-day ladder applied automatically as employees cross seniority thresholds.
Half-year and pro-rated eligibility for new hires under article 153, calculated against actual working days.
Termination payouts that respect the LCT requirement to settle untaken leave in the liquidación final.
Multi-country support for teams that span Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and beyond — all on one flat $10/month plan with unlimited employees.