“In principle, no. Article 237, No. 3 of the Labor Code expressly states that the “right to vacation is inalienable and its enjoyment cannot be replaced, even with the worker’s agreement, by any financial compensation or otherwise, without prejudice to the provisions of No. 5 of the following article,” which tells us that the “worker can give up the enjoyment of vacation days exceeding 20 working days, or the corresponding proportion in the case of vacations in the year of admission, without reducing the remuneration and subsidy for the vacation period due, which accumulate with the remuneration for work performed on those days.”
This means that, in a regular year, a worker cannot take less than 20 working days of vacation. If there are more vacation days remaining, the remainder can, by agreement, be paid instead of being provided for enjoyment.
However, a minimum period that cannot be surpassed is defined, for which the right to vacation enjoyment cannot be replaced by its monetary equivalent. The logic is that the right to vacation is a right in kind and should be enjoyed as such, except in honorable exceptions.
On the other hand, it’s important to note that in the year of contract termination, the Labor Code (Article 245, No. 1, letter b)) requires payment of proportional vacation for the year of termination, in which case it will not be possible to enjoy them and, here, there is an actual monetary credit and not a right of enjoyment (in kind).
The reason for this apparent reversal of the rule in this particular situation is due to the fact that, in the year of contract termination, the proportional vacation days only mature upon its effective termination.
These proportions should not be confused with the vacation days matured on January 1 of that year (typically, 22 working days), as they relate to the period of work performed precisely between January 1 and the date of the effective termination of the contract.”
