What the Labor Code Guarantees: 15 Working Days

Article 130 of the Labor Code (Código de Trabajo, Decreto 1441) guarantees every worker in Guatemala at least 15 working days (días hábiles) of paid vacation after each year of continuous service with the same employer, taken without interruption (Art. 136, with the exception explained below).

Working days: Art. 130 uses that term, but the articles in the chapter on rest days, holidays and vacation (Arts. 126 to 137) do not define it. Art. 126 sets the working week at five to six days, depending on the custom of the business. In a Monday-to-Friday week, 15 working days are 3 calendar weeks.

What if a public holiday falls inside your vacation? None of Arts. 126 to 137 deals with it: they do not say that the holiday extends your vacation, nor that it is deducted from it. If you and your employer cannot agree, consult the Labor Inspectorate (Inspección General de Trabajo, part of MINTRAB, the Ministry of Labor).

Quick summary: At least 15 working days of paid vacation after 1 year of service, paid in advance on the average of what you earned (Art. 134). The employer sets the dates within the 60 days after you complete the year (Art. 132).

Calculate your vacation and benefits
Proportional vacation, overtime and related benefits

To work out the cash value of your vacation (when the employment ends), use our vacation calculator.

Guatemala’s Official Public Holidays 2026

Under Article 127 of the Labor Code, these are the paid holidays (días de asueto con goce de salario) in 2026: 12 dates, two of them half days, plus the day of the local festivity:

Date (2026)WeekdayHolidayType
1 JanuaryThursdayNew Year’s DayFull day
2 AprilThursdayHoly Thursday (Jueves Santo)Full day
3 AprilFridayGood Friday (Viernes Santo)Full day
4 AprilSaturdayHoly Saturday (Sábado Santo)Full day
1 MayFridayLabor DayFull day
30 JuneTuesdayArmy DayFull day (see the note below)
15 SeptemberTuesdayIndependence DayFull day
20 OctoberTuesdayRevolution DayFull day
1 NovemberSundayAll Saints’ DayFull day
24 DecemberThursdayChristmas EveHalf day (from 12:00 noon)
25 DecemberFridayChristmas DayFull day
31 DecemberThursdayNew Year’s EveHalf day (from 12:00 noon)

For 24 and 31 December, Art. 127 says “mediodía, a partir de las doce horas” [half day, from twelve noon].

Note on 30 June: the original Article 2 of the tourism law, Decreto 42-2010 (Ley que Promueve el Turismo Interno), says “cuando el día de asueto recaiga en día martes se gozará el día lunes anterior” [when the holiday falls on a Tuesday, it is taken on the preceding Monday]. Its list of exceptions names 1 January, the Holy Week days, 1 May, 15 September, 20 October, 1 November, the Christmas and New Year dates and the local festivity, but not 30 June. Decreto 19-2018 (published in the Diario de Centro América on 10 October 2018) rewrote that article: a covered holiday on a Tuesday or Wednesday is taken on the preceding Monday, and one on a Thursday to Sunday on the following Monday; it named 1 May, 30 June and 20 October, and 15 September remains an exception. In its ruling on case 5536-2018 of 17 March 2020, the Constitutional Court struck 1 May and 20 October from that list, so 30 June is the only holiday the Monday rule still moves (details on our bank holiday hours page). In October 2026 the government granted public servants paid leave on Monday 19 October (Acuerdo Gubernativo 167-2026). Check MINTRAB’s announcements for how a given holiday is observed.

Local festivity (feriado patronal): Art. 127 also makes the day of the local festivity a paid holiday, and each municipality has its own. See our Guatemala holidays calendar 2026 and the 2027 holidays page.

Bridge Strategy: Making the Most of Your Time Off

What the Strategy Is Built On

The idea is to place your vacation days next to time you already have off:

  1. Official holidays (paid days off under Art. 127)
  2. Rest days (Sunday, and Saturday if your week runs Monday to Friday: they are not days of your working week)
  3. Bridge days (puentes) (a Monday or Friday next to a holiday)

The limits the Code sets: the employer chooses when you take your vacation (Art. 132), and Art. 136 says vacation is taken without interruption. Workers are only obliged to split it into at most two parts for special work that does not allow a very long absence. The Code does not give you a right to scatter your 15 days across single bridge days, so any such plan has to be agreed with your employer.

The 2026 Windows

Already past in 2026

  • Semana Santa: Holy Thursday to Holy Saturday fell on 2-4 April 2026, followed by Easter Sunday on 5 April.
  • Labor Day: fell on Friday 1 May 2026, next to the weekend of 2-3 May.
  • Army Day: fell on Tuesday 30 June 2026. See the note above on the Tuesday-to-Monday rule of Decreto 42-2010 and its 2018 reform.
  • Independence Day: fell on Tuesday 15 September 2026. Decreto 42-2010 lists 15 September among its exceptions, so the Tuesday-to-Monday rule does not move it.

Still ahead: year-end 2026 (24 December 2026 - 3 January 2027)

  • Holidays: 24 December from noon, 25 December, 31 December from noon and 1 January 2027.
DateWeekdayStatus in a Monday-to-Friday week
24 December 2026ThursdayHalf-day holiday from 12:00 noon (morning is working time)
25 December 2026FridayHoliday
26-27 December 2026Saturday-SundayRest days
28-30 December 2026Monday-WednesdayWorking days
31 December 2026ThursdayHalf-day holiday from 12:00 noon (morning is working time)
1 January 2027FridayHoliday
2-3 January 2027Saturday-SundayRest days

The working time left in that stretch is Monday 28 to Wednesday 30 December plus the mornings of 24 and 31 December. Agree with your employer how any leave over those days is scheduled (Art. 132).

Rules You Need to Know

Vacation Is Paid in Advance, on the Average of What You Earned

Article 134 of the Labor Code says vacation pay is the average of ordinary and extraordinary earnings over the last year (over the last three months if the business is agricultural or livestock), counted from when you acquired the right, and that it is paid in advance. If you earn overtime or commissions, they go into that average. To calculate it, use the vacation calculator.

The Employer Sets the Dates Within 60 Days

Article 132 of the Labor Code says the employer must set the period in which the worker actually takes the vacation within the sixty days following the date on which the year of continuous service was completed, trying not to disrupt the smooth running of the business or the effectiveness of the rest, and avoiding overloading the coworkers of the person on vacation.

Under Article 137, a written record of the vacation granted must be made when the employer or the worker asks for it. In private businesses, if the employer, when the labor authorities ask for it, does not show the record signed by the worker (or bearing the worker’s fingerprint if they cannot sign), it is presumed, unless proven otherwise, that the vacation was not granted. See the vacation record template (in Spanish).

Vacation Cannot Be Exchanged for Money

Article 133 says vacation cannot be exchanged for money: the employer cannot pay you cash instead of giving you the rest. The only exception: the end of the employment, for whatever reason (dismissal, resignation). Then the proportional vacation not taken is paid.

Vacation Does Not Accumulate

Article 136 says vacation is taken without interruption, and workers are only obliged to split it into at most two parts when the work is of a special kind that does not allow a very long absence. Vacation is not cumulative from year to year in order to take a longer rest later. If you were not given it, it is not lost: when the employment ends you can claim cash compensation for the vacation omitted in the last five years (Art. 136).

Special Case: Household Workers

Domestic workers are also entitled to vacation: Art. 130 grants it to every worker without exception. What Art. 164 excludes for domestic work are Arts. 126 and 127 (weekly rest and public holidays); in their place it sets other rest periods, such as an additional six paid hours of rest on Sundays and on the holidays the Code lists.

How to Request Your Vacation (Standard Procedure)

  1. Check that you have completed your year of service (Art. 130: “después de cada año de trabajo continuo” [after each year of continuous work])
  2. Talk to HR or your direct manager about your preferred dates
  3. Put the request in writing (letter or email): start and end dates and the number of working days requested. You can use the vacation request template (in Spanish)
  4. Wait for the employer’s confirmation (Art. 132: the employer sets the period) and ask for the written record (Art. 137)
  5. Receive the advance payment of the salary for your vacation days before you leave (Art. 134)
  6. Enjoy it: vacation is taken without interruption, with the two-part exception for special work (Art. 136)

If Your Employer Refuses Your Vacation

  • Raise it in writing internally first
  • If the refusal stands: file a complaint with MINTRAB’s Labor Inspectorate (Inspección General de Trabajo), which Art. 278 of the Labor Code charges with ensuring that employers and workers comply with labor law. The mintrabajo.gob.gt site has a Denuncias Laborales (labor complaints) menu.
  • Deadline: the Labor Code sets two limitation rules that may apply: rights arising directly from the employment contract lapse four months after the contract ends (Art. 263), and rights arising directly from the Code lapse after two years from the act or omission (Art. 264), unless a special provision says otherwise. Check which one applies to your case and do not wait to claim.
  • See: File a labor complaint with MINTRAB

This page provides general information about Guatemalan labor law. For specific cases (suspended contracts, interrupted vacations, dismissals during vacation), consult a licensed labor lawyer.