Key Takeaways at a Glance:
- Annual leave in Argentina ranges from 14 to 35 calendar days, scaling with seniority under LCT 20.744 — from under 5 years of service up to 20+ years.
- Paid sick leave runs 3 or 6 months depending on tenure; workers with family dependents receive double those periods, up to 12 months.
- Maternity leave totals 90 days (45 pre-birth, 45 post-birth); statutory paternity leave is just 2 consecutive days — among the shortest in the region.
- Domestic workers are excluded from the LCT and governed instead by a separate regime under Ley 26.844, requiring distinct compliance treatment.
- On termination, employers must pay out all unused vacation in full, plus the employee's complete monthly salary for the termination month.
Statutory Framework Governing Leave in Argentina
Argentina's primary statute governing leave for private-sector employees is the Ley de Contrato de Trabajo (LCT 20.744). It sets the statutory floors for annual leave, sick leave, parental leave, and special paid leave categories across the private sector.
The LCT was most recently updated by Law 27.742, published in the Official Gazette on 8 July 2024. That update introduced inclusive language changes to Art. 177 (maternity protection) but did not alter core leave durations. The official texto actualizado on argentina.gob.ar is the authoritative living reference for all statutory provisions.
The LCT does not apply universally. The following categories of workers are explicitly excluded from its coverage:
- Public administration employees
- Domestic workers
- Agricultural workers
- Independent contractors
Domestic workers represent the most common compliance risk in this context. They are governed by a separate special regime — Ley 26.844 (Régimen Especial de Contrato de Trabajo para el Personal de Casas Particulares) — with its own leave entitlements and obligations. Employers must identify which statute applies before administering any leave.
Annual Leave Entitlements and How They Scale with Seniority
Annual leave in Argentina is measured in calendar days, not working days. That distinction matters in practice: 14 calendar days equals approximately 10 working days. Employers who schedule leave without accounting for weekends and public holidays within the leave window will miscalculate the actual time off granted.
Entitlement scales with years of service under LCT 20.744:
| Years of Service | Annual Leave Entitlement |
|---|---|
| Up to 5 years | 14 calendar days |
| 5 to 10 years | 21 calendar days |
| 10 to 20 years | 28 calendar days |
| Over 20 years | 35 calendar days |
To qualify for the full entitlement, an employee must have worked at least six months with the same employer within a twelve-month period. Employees who have not yet reached that threshold accrue leave at a rate of 1 day for every 20 days worked.
The employer controls the timing of annual leave. Leave must be scheduled within the October 1 to April 30 window, and the employer must provide at least 30 days' written notice before the leave period begins. Leave cannot be scheduled outside this window without the employee's agreement.
On carryover: up to one-third of annual leave days may be carried over to the following year by mutual agreement. Any leave beyond that threshold is forfeited at year-end — there is no automatic rollover.
Leave pay is calculated using the formula: monthly salary ÷ 25 × number of vacation days. On termination, any unused vacation must be paid out in full. The employer must also pay the employee's complete monthly salary for the month in which termination occurs, regardless of the termination date within that month.
Sick Leave Rights and the Dependent-Doubling Rule
Argentina's LCT Arts. 208–210 provide fully paid sick leave, with duration determined by two factors: years of service and whether the worker has family dependents. The dependent-doubling rule is frequently missed in practice and represents a real compliance exposure for employers who apply only the base entitlement.
The base entitlements are:
- Less than 5 years of service: 3 months of paid sick leave
- 5 or more years of service: 6 months of paid sick leave
When the worker has family dependents, both periods double:
| Service Tenure | No Dependents | With Dependents |
|---|---|---|
| Less than 5 years | 3 months | 6 months |
| 5 or more years | 6 months | 12 months |
The employer pays the employee's full salary throughout the paid sick leave period. Once the paid period ends, the employer must hold the employee's position for an additional one year before termination is permitted. That job reservation period is a hard statutory obligation — it is not discretionary.
Maternity, Paternity, and Parental Leave Benefits
Maternity leave is governed by LCT Art. 177, most recently updated by Law 27.742 (B.O. 8 July 2024). The total entitlement is 90 days, structured as 45 days before birth and 45 days after. The gestating employee may choose to reduce the prenatal period to as few as 10 days, with the remaining days added to the postnatal period. This flexibility is the employee's to exercise, not the employer's to impose.
Maternity leave pay is covered by social security, not paid directly by the employer. Job stability protections apply during and after the leave period — dismissal during maternity leave triggers specific legal consequences under the LCT.
Paternity and non-gestant parent leave is set by LCT Art. 158. The statutory minimum is 2 consecutive days, with at least one being a working day if the birth falls on a Sunday or public holiday. This is among the shortest statutory paternity entitlements in Latin America. HR leads should not treat this as a benchmark for what employees expect — it is a legal floor, not a market standard.
Some sector-specific collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) provide more generous paternity leave. However, enhanced CBA entitlements are not universal. Employers cannot assume a more generous entitlement applies without first identifying and reviewing the CBA that governs their employee's sector.
Breastfeeding breaks are protected under LCT Art. 179. Employees are entitled to two 30-minute breaks per workday for up to one year after birth. Depending on workforce size thresholds, employers may also be required to provide nursery facilities — this obligation is regulatory and not waivable by agreement.
Adoption leave is recognized as a distinct leave category in Argentina's statutory framework, separate from maternity and paternity leave. Parental leave also exists as a broader recognized category beyond the maternity and paternity minimums. Employers should confirm the applicable entitlements for their specific workforce and sector.
Special Paid Leaves: Marriage, Bereavement, Exam, and Other Statutory Entitlements
LCT Arts. 158–161 establish a set of special paid leave categories that are statutory entitlements, not discretionary benefits. They do not reduce an employee's annual leave balance and must be administered separately.
| Leave Type | Entitlement |
|---|---|
| Marriage | 10 consecutive days |
| Birth of child | 2 consecutive days |
| Death of spouse, partner, child, or parent | 3 days |
| Death of sibling | 1 day |
| Exam leave (secondary or university) | 2 days per exam, maximum 10 days per year |
Marriage leave and exam leave are frequently treated as informal or discretionary by employers unfamiliar with Argentine labor law. Both are statutory paid entitlements. An employee sitting a university exam is entitled to 2 paid days per exam, up to 10 days annually — this applies regardless of whether the employer considers the study relevant to the role.
Argentina's statutory framework also recognizes voting leave, military leave, and jury duty leave as additional entitlements. These are separate from the Art. 158 categories and governed by their own rules.
All special paid leaves are additive — they sit alongside annual leave and sick leave, not within them.
Public Holidays and Holiday Pay Rules
All private-sector employees covered by the LCT are entitled to paid time off on public holidays. These are not deducted from annual leave — they are separate paid days.
When an employee works on a public holiday, that work must be compensated at double the regular rate, under LCT Art. 166. This is a statutory obligation, not a negotiable benefit.
Argentina's public holiday calendar is set annually via decrees under Law 27.399. Specific dates change from year to year, and some holidays are moved to create long weekends. Employers should reference the official argentina.gob.ar/feriados calendar for current-year dates rather than relying on prior-year schedules.
Compliance Mechanics: Scheduling, Pay Calculation, and Termination Payouts
Annual leave in Argentina is not employee-initiated. The employer sets the timing, and that timing must fall within the October 1 to April 30 window. At least 30 days' written notice must be given before the leave period begins. Scheduling leave outside this window requires the employee's agreement — it cannot be imposed unilaterally.
Leave pay is calculated using a specific statutory formula under LCT Art. 155:
Monthly salary ÷ 25 × number of vacation days
For example, an employee earning ARS 500,000 per month who is entitled to 14 calendar days of leave would receive: 500,000 ÷ 25 × 14 = ARS 280,000 in vacation pay. The divisor of 25 is fixed by statute — it does not vary based on the number of working days in a given month.
On termination, two obligations apply simultaneously. First, any unused vacation must be paid out in full using the same formula. Second, the employer must pay the employee's complete monthly salary for the month in which termination occurs, regardless of the termination date within that month.
These obligations apply to the employment relationship itself — not to whether the employer has a registered legal entity in Argentina. Compliance follows the worker, not the corporate structure.
Leave Rules for Domestic Workers and Other Excluded Categories
The LCT does not apply to every worker in Argentina. Four categories are explicitly excluded: public administration employees, domestic workers, agricultural workers, and independent contractors. Applying LCT leave rules to workers in these categories is a compliance error, not a conservative approach.
Domestic workers are the most relevant excluded category for most private employers. They are governed by a separate statutory regime: Ley 26.844 (Régimen Especial de Contrato de Trabajo para el Personal de Casas Particulares). Leave entitlements under Ley 26.844 differ from those under the LCT, and employers must apply the correct statute based on the worker's classification.
If an employer is hiring a domestic worker in Argentina, the starting point is Ley 26.844 — not this guide. The LCT provisions described throughout this article do not apply to that employment relationship.
How Collective Bargaining Agreements Can Modify Statutory Leave Floors
The LCT sets statutory minimums. Collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) can build on those minimums — they can provide more generous leave entitlements — but they cannot reduce them. Any CBA provision that falls below a statutory floor is unenforceable.
Paternity leave is the clearest example of where this matters. The statutory minimum under LCT Art. 158 is 2 consecutive days. Some sector-specific CBAs provide longer paternity leave, but that enhancement is not universal. An employer cannot assume a more generous entitlement applies without first identifying the CBA that governs their employee's sector and union affiliation.
There is no single national CBA covering all private-sector employees in Argentina. CBA coverage is sector- and union-specific. Before finalizing employment terms — particularly for leave — HR leads should confirm which CBA applies to the role and review its leave provisions against the statutory baseline. Assuming the LCT minimum is sufficient may result in underprovision and a compliance exposure.
Managing Argentina Leave Compliance Without a Local Entity
Without a registered legal entity in Argentina, a foreign employer cannot directly employ workers under the LCT. The employment relationship requires a compliant local structure — and without one, the company is exposed to misclassification risk, unpaid statutory entitlements, and potential labor authority scrutiny.
A Global Employer of Record (EOR) resolves this by acting as the legal employer in Argentina on the client company's behalf. To understand how this model works in practice, see how EOR works. The EOR executes the employment contract, administers leave entitlements under the LCT, runs payroll, and manages statutory filings — while the client company retains day-to-day direction of the worker's activities. For HR leads managing their first Argentine hire without a local team, this structure removes the compliance gap without requiring entity setup.
Gloroots offers Global Employer of Record services that support entity-free employment in Argentina and more than 150 countries. The model is built around local execution and centralized governance — leave administration, payroll, and compliance reporting are managed in-country, with visibility and control surfaced centrally for the HR and Finance teams overseeing the engagement.
Managing Leave Policy in Argentina with Gloroots
Gloroots tracks leave balances across all statutory leave types — annual leave, sick leave, special paid leaves, and parental entitlements — and integrates employer-administered and social-security-reimbursed days into a single payroll run. The official public holiday schedule is managed automatically, so HR teams do not need to maintain a separate calendar or manually flag holiday pay obligations each year.
Compliance reporting is generated centrally. HR and Finance teams have clear visibility into leave obligations, accruals, and payouts at any point in the year — without having to chase local administrators for status updates. That reporting layer is part of the employment operating structure, not a separate add-on.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many vacation days are employees entitled to in Argentina?
Annual leave entitlement in Argentina is based on years of service and measured in calendar days, not working days. Employees receive 14 calendar days for up to 5 years of service, 21 days for 5–10 years, 28 days for 10–20 years, and 35 days for over 20 years. To qualify for the full entitlement, an employee must have worked at least six months with the same employer within a twelve-month period. Before that threshold, leave accrues at 1 day for every 20 days worked.
What is the minimum paternity leave in Argentina and can it be extended?
The statutory minimum under LCT Art. 158 is 2 consecutive days, with at least one being a working day if the birth falls on a Sunday or public holiday. This is among the shortest paternity entitlements in the region. Some sector-specific collective bargaining agreements provide more generous leave, but that is not a statutory floor — employers must check the applicable CBA for their employee's sector before assuming any enhanced entitlement applies.
How is sick leave calculated in Argentina and what happens when it runs out?
Paid sick leave under LCT Arts. 208–210 is 3 months for workers with less than 5 years of service, and 6 months for those with 5 or more years. If the worker has family dependents, both periods double — to 6 months and 12 months respectively. The employer pays full salary throughout the paid period. Once the paid sick leave period ends, the employer must hold the employee's position for an additional one year before termination is permitted.
Are public holidays paid in Argentina and what happens if an employee works on one?
Yes. Public holidays are paid days off for all employees covered by the LCT, and they do not count against annual leave. If an employee works on a public holiday, that work must be compensated at double the regular rate under LCT Art. 166. Specific holiday dates change annually — employers should consult the official argentina.gob.ar/feriados calendar for current-year dates rather than relying on prior schedules.
Do collective bargaining agreements override the statutory leave minimums?
CBAs can enhance statutory minimums but cannot reduce them. Any CBA provision that falls below an LCT floor is unenforceable. Paternity leave is the most common example: the statutory minimum is 2 days, but some sector CBAs provide more. HR leads should identify the applicable CBA for their employee's sector before finalizing leave terms — assuming the statutory minimum is sufficient may result in underprovision.
What leave rules apply to domestic workers in Argentina?
Domestic workers are not covered by the LCT. They are governed by a separate statutory regime under Ley 26.844 (Régimen Especial de Contrato de Trabajo para el Personal de Casas Particulares), which carries its own leave entitlements and obligations. Employers hiring domestic workers must apply Ley 26.844, not the LCT — the two regimes are not interchangeable.
How does an employer without a local entity in Argentina manage leave compliance?
Without a local entity, a foreign employer cannot directly employ workers under the LCT. A Global Employer of Record (EOR) acts as the legal employer in Argentina, managing leave administration, payroll, and statutory compliance on the client company's behalf. Gloroots offers EOR services that support entity-free employment in Argentina, giving HR teams local execution with centralized governance and reporting.
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