Sri Lanka

Paid Time Off (PTO)

The employee is entitled to 14 days of annual leave after completing a full year of service. Annual leave for the second year of employment is accrued based on the date the employee joined service.

According to Section 73 of the Factories Ordinance:

• A young person shall not be employed in a factory on a Sunday
• Every woman or young person employed in a factory shall be allowed six whole days as holidays on six consecutive week days per year

As per Sub Section 5 of the Shop and Office Employees Act

• Every person employed in a shop or office shall be allowed one whole day and one half day as paid holidays per week.
• Such holidays shall be allowed with full remuneration if the employee has worked for not less than twenty-eight hours, exclusive of any period of overtime work, during that week.
• The holidays due in respect of any week shall be allowed either in that week or in the week immediately succeeding

Public Holidays

There are 23 public holidays.

Sick Days

The duration of sick leave entitlement provided to workers is dependent on how long they have been employed by their employer:

• In accordance with the Shop and Office Act, every worker certified by a medical practitioner is entitled to a paid sick leave (sickness benefit) for a period of 07 days (in a 12-month period) for private business, ill-health or any other reasonable cause.
• These are generally known as casual leave.

Maternity Leave

The duration of maternity leave is 12 weeks (84 days) excluding weekly holidays, Poya days and statutory holidays.

Six weeks of maternity leave are given to women with two or more children. Two weeks should be taken before the birth and four weeks immediately following the birth.

Paternity Leave

It is limited to 3 days for the state sector. The employee must take this leave within three months from the date of birth of the child.

Parental Leave

There are no statutory laws regarding paternity leave.

Other Leave

Work-Related Injury Leave:If an employee is absent from work due to injury sustained during work and under the circumstances specifically attributed to the nature of his duties, they are granted accident leave.

Duty Leave: All staff members are granted duty leave for the following purposes:

• Any employee who is in the reserve list of a volunteer unit of Armed Forces
• To attend examinations with regards to language proficiency
• To attend any medical examination
• To cast votes for elections or referendums

Marriage Leave

There is no provision for marriage leave. It is at the employer's discretion.

Bereavement Leave

There is no special provision for bereavement leave in Sri Lanka. It is at the employer's discretion.

Termination Process

Whilst there is no specific definition in either the TEWA or the IDA of what constitutes justifiable cause, case law has identified that the following types of conduct will constitute grounds for justifiable cause to dismiss on disciplinary grounds (these are not exhaustive):

• Persistent and unauthorized absence, or late arrival, or early departure.
• Gross negligence in the discharge of duties.
• Insubordination.
• Abusive/unruly behavior.
• Dishonesty.
• Theft.
• Intoxication whilst at work.

An employer's loss of confidence in an employee has also been held to be a sufficient ground for dismissal, provided that it is coupled with a specific ground of misconduct as set out above.

Even where a loss of confidence cannot be linked to a specific ground of misconduct, it is often pleaded by employers to persuade adjudicating

forums that reinstatement is not a suitable remedy.

Notice periods, or payments in lieu of notice, for dismissal are typically stipulated in the contract of employment.

However, where the provisions concerning notice periods, or payments in lieu of notice, are exercised by the employer during the course of an

unjust dismissal, the employee can challenge that termination on the basis of unjust dismissal.

In the case of a dismissal on disciplinary grounds, the Termination of Employment of Workmen (Special Provisions) Act No 45 of 1971 (TEWA)

makes it mandatory for the employer to inform the employee, in writing, of the reasons for the dismissal before the expiry of the second working day after the dismissal has taken place.

Non-disciplinary termination requires a notice period (typically one month) that is mutually agreed in the contract of employment.

Notice Period

The notice period in Sri Lanka is:

• Notice periods, or payments in lieu of notice, for dismissal are typically stipulated in the contract of employment.
• However, where the provisions concerning notice periods, or payments in lieu of notice, are exercised by the employer during the course of an unjust dismissal, the employee can challenge that termination on the basis of unjust dismissal.
• In the case of a dismissal on disciplinary grounds, the Termination of Employment of Workmen (Special Provisions) Act No 45 of 1971 (TEWA) makes it mandatory for the employer to inform the employee, in writing, of the reasons for the dismissal before the expiry of the second working day after the dismissal has taken place.

Notice periods, or payments in lieu of notice, should be stipulated in the contract of employment. In Sri lanka generally it is a period if six months.

Severance Pay

The quantum of compensation that may be awarded by the Commissioner of Labor (Commissioner) as a result of a successful application for unjust dismissal under the TEWA is regulated as follows, depending on the employee's length of service:

• Employee with one to five years' service: 2.5 months' salary paid as compensation for each year of service competed (capped at 12.5 months' salary).
• Employee with six to 14 years' service: 2 months' salary paid as compensation for each year of service competed (capped at 30.5 months' salary).
• Employee with 15 to 19 years' service: 1.5 months' salary paid as compensation for each year of service competed (capped at 38 months' salary).
• Employee with 20 to 24 years' service: 1 months' salary paid as compensation for each year of service competed (capped at 43 months' salary).
• Employee with 25 to 34 years' service: 0.5 months' salary paid as compensation for each year of service competed (capped at 48 months' salary).

The maximum severance payment that can be made under the above formula is LKR1.25 million.

Probation Period

There is no clear provision in labor laws on the duration of probation period in Sri Lanka.

Generally, probation period is six months.