Kuwait Annual Leave Law: What You're Actually Owed

If you're working in Kuwait and trying to figure out how much paid leave you're entitled to, when you can take it, and what happens if your employer refuses — the law is clearer than most managers pretend. Here's the straight version.

Quick answer

Under Kuwait Labour Law No. 6 of 2010 (Private Sector), Article 70, you get 30 days of paid annual leave per year once you've completed nine months of service with the same employer. The 30 days are calendar days, not working days, but official holidays and sick leave that fall during the vacation don't count against it. Leave is paid at full wage, and your employer must pay you for any accrued, untaken leave if you leave the job. You can't legally waive this right for cash while still employed.

How the 30 days actually work

Article 70 of Law No. 6 of 2010 sets annual leave at 30 days a year, with full pay ^[1]. You start accruing from day one, but you only become entitled to take leave after nine continuous months with the employer. Before that nine-month mark, leave is prorated if you leave the job — you still get paid out for the days you earned.

Three things people get wrong here.

First, the 30 days are calendar days by default. That means weekends inside your leave block generally count. Second, if a public holiday (Eid, National Day, etc.) falls during your leave, it doesn't eat into your 30. Same for a documented sick day with a medical certificate. Third, the employer sets the timing of leave based on work requirements — but they can't deny it indefinitely or push it past two years without your written consent.

If you've worked less than a full year but more than nine months, you're entitled to leave in proportion to your service.

Carry-over, cash-out, and end of service

You can carry leave forward, but there are limits. The employer can require you to take your annual leave within the year it accrued. In practice, many employers allow carry-over of unused days into the next year — this is common but discretionary unless your contract says otherwise.

Here's the part worth memorizing: you cannot be paid cash in lieu of leave while still employed. Article 71 explicitly voids any agreement to waive annual leave in exchange for money during the course of employment ^[1]. The logic is protective — otherwise employers would pressure workers to "sell" their rest.

When employment ends — resignation, termination, expiry of a fixed-term contract — the rule flips. The employer must pay you for all accrued, untaken leave. This is calculated on your last drawn wage, including regular allowances that form part of your remuneration. If you had 45 days of untaken leave accumulated and your monthly salary was KD 600, you're owed roughly KD 900 as a leave settlement, on top of your end-of-service indemnity.

Watch out: Some employers try to cap carried leave at 15 days or wipe it at year-end. Unless this is written clearly in your contract and doesn't contradict the Labour Law, challenge it. Accrued leave is a wage right.

What to do if your employer refuses leave

Start with a written request. Email or a signed letter, with specific dates. Keep the reply (or the silence). If leave is denied without a legitimate work-based reason, or if you're pushed to work through it unpaid, that's a Labour Law violation.

Your route is the Public Authority for Manpower (PAM). You file a labour complaint at the PAM office covering your work location. PAM runs a mandatory conciliation stage — most disputes settle here within a few weeks. If conciliation fails, PAM refers the case to the Labour Court, and court filing fees are waived for workers in employment disputes under Article 143 of Law No. 6 of 2010 ^[1].

Practical tip: before you file, gather your contract, pay slips for the last six months, your written leave requests, and any WhatsApp or email threads showing the denial. Documentation wins these cases. Verbal promises don't.

For domestic workers, the regime is different — Law No. 68 of 2015 on Domestic Workers governs that relationship, with its own leave provisions (30 days paid annual leave after one year of service, under Article 22) ^[2]. Public sector employees fall under the Civil Service Law and its executive regulations, not Law No. 6 of 2010.

Travel tickets and leave abroad

A separate but related entitlement: if your contract provides for a return air ticket to your home country (common for expatriate workers), that obligation is contractual, not statutory under Law No. 6 of 2010. Check your contract. Many employers link the ticket to the annual leave — meaning you only get it if you actually travel — but that condition has to be in writing.

If your contract is silent on tickets, you have no automatic right to one under the Labour Law. Negotiate it before signing, not after.