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All About Paid Vacations in Costa Rica
The Costa Rican Labor Code (Codigo de Trabajo) stipulates that an Employer must provide vacation time to their Employee once that Employee has worked at least 50 weeks. Once that threshold is reached the Employee is entitled to 2 weeks paid vacation. However, it is up to the Employer to decide when it is the best time for their Employees to take that mandatory vacation time and notify them of the selected vacation period. The Employer should note that the burden of proof in any labor dispute will be against the Employer – it is the Employer that will have to demonstrate that the Employee actually took the mandatory vacation.
To calculate the vacation pay the Employer must take into account the average wage (include regular wage plus any overtime pay) earned during the previous 50 week of employment. This is the amount the Employee must be paid.
The mandatory vacation pay discussed above is separate from any additional pay that the Employee is entitled to due to an official government holiday. The Costa Rican government recognizes several paid holidays which are set forth in the chart below.
| Date | Event | |
| January 1st | New Years Day | Mandatory Paid Vacation |
| April 11th | Juan Santamaria Day | Mandatory Paid Vacation |
| Easter Thursday | Easter | Mandatory Paid Vacation |
| Easter Friday | Easter | Mandatory Paid Vacation |
| May 1st | Labor Day | Mandatory Paid Vacation |
| July 25th | Anexation of Guancaste | Mandatory Paid Vacation |
| August 2nd | Virgin of Los Angeles | Vacation (not paid) |
| August 15th | Mothers Day | Mandatory Paid Vacation |
| September 15th | Independence Day | Mandatory Paid Vacation |
| October 12th | Cultural Day | Vacation (not paid) |
| December 25th | Christmas | Mandatory Paid Vacation |
