It is not financially beneficial to take some months off from work. For example, if you go on vacation in May, you will get much less money than if you took the same vacation in July. For an employee who earns 10 million soums, the difference can reach up to 1.7 million soums. The fact is that in Uzbekistan, wages are paid differently for working days and holidays. The value of a working day is calculated by “dividing the monthly salary by the number of working days in this month”, and the value of a vacation day is determined by “dividing the average salary by 25.3”. These two numbers will never be equal, and therefore how much is in your wallet in which month you rest.
Vacation is a period when an employee does not work, and the place of work and the average salary are preserved. All persons working on the basis of an employment contract, including substitutes and seasonal employees, have the right to vacation. We are only talking about paid annual leave.
New from April 30, 2023 Labor Codei (adopted on October 28, 2022) entered into force. The main innovation in it is that the vacation is now counted on calendar days instead of working days as before. The minimum basic vacation is 21 calendar days instead of the previous 15 working days.
Additional and basic leave are available. Basic leave is given to everyone. For most, it consists of 21 calendar days, but for some categories, an extended basic holiday is established.
Who gets more than 21 days of basic leave?
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Additional leave is added to the basic leave. It is awarded to workers in harmful working conditions, unfavorable climatic conditions, as well as for long-term work experience in the same organization or industry. For every 5 years of work experience, 2 calendar days of additional leave are granted, but not more than 8 days in total.
Labor Code of 28.10.2022: Articles 481, 483
Basic holidays are not added, and additional holidays are added. In this case, the total duration of all vacations for one working year cannot exceed 56 calendar days.
Some subtleties that are useful to know
● First vacation. Leave for the first year of work is usually granted after 6 months of work, but it is possible to leave earlier if agreed with the employer.
● Placemates. Substitute employees are given a full vacation at the same time as the vacation at the main workplace, even if they have not worked for half a year.
● Cover with money. You cannot take money in lieu of the minimum 21 days of vacation – these days must be rested. More than 21 days can be compensated according to the employee’s application. Additional leave granted for harmful and difficult working conditions is not compensable.
● To be. The vacation can be divided into parts, but one of them must be at least 14 calendar days.
Labor Code of 28.10.2022: 231–substance
How is vacation pay calculated in Uzbekistan?
Vacation pay is not an additional payment to the salary, but a part of the salary that is paid in advance. After returning from vacation, the salary is calculated only for the days worked. Therefore, it is necessary to plan expenses.
Formula:
Vacation pay = (Average monthly salary ÷ 25.3) × paid vacation days
We will see.
Average monthly salary is calculated for the 12 calendar months before the start of the vacation. It includes salary, bonuses and allowances. One-time financial aid and one-time awards are not taken into account. If the employee has worked for less than one year, the actual months of work are taken.
Labor Code of 28.10.2022: 257–substance
25.3 – this is the monthly average number of working days for a six-day working week, defined in Article 257 of the Labor Code. The salary is divided by this number to determine the average daily wage. Previously, a coefficient of 25.4 was used, now 25.3 is used.
Paid vacation days. Vacation is counted in calendar days, but not all days are paid. Right except Sundays and holidays paid for all days. Holidays are not paid, they are not included in the length of vacation – just the vacation period is extended.
Decision No. 758 of the Cabinet of Ministers
An example. If you take 21 calendar days of vacation without a single holiday, 21 days will be used, and you will be paid for 18 days – leaving out three Sundays.
At a salary of 10 million soums:
10,000,000 ÷ 25.3 = 395,257 soums – for each paid vacation day.
This number does not depend on the month. But the value of a working day varies by month, and this is where the main difference appears.
If the employee has fully worked the standard working hours during the month, his monthly average salary cannot be less than the minimum wage. Vacation pay must be paid no later than the last working day before the vacation starts.
Labor calendar and working day value for 2026
The value of one working day depends on how many working days there are in a month: the monthly salary is divided by the number of working days. The more working days, the cheaper each working day will be, and the more profitable it will be to take a vacation this month.
The number of working days for 2026 is based on the President’s Decree No. PF-257 of December 24, 2025 decree marked with Below are the number of working days for a five-day working week and the value of one working day at a salary of 10 million soums:
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In the months with many holidays, each working day is “expensive” and replacing it with a vacation day worth 395,257 soums is a loss. And in the months with a lot of work days, every work day is cheap, and taking a vacation almost doesn’t hurt, sometimes it even helps.
Why is May the worst month?
Let’s take two employees who earn 10 million soums as an example. Both will take a two-week vacation and have 16 days off in a row. Only one in May and one in July.
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An employee who went on vacation in July will win 395,000 soums. The employee who quit will lose 1.34 million soums. The difference for the same vacation is more than 1.7 million soums. The reason: in May, a working day costs 588,235 soums, and a holiday costs 395,257 soums, and each holiday brings a loss. A working day in July is cheap.
3 rules that will help you not lose money
The law allows the vacation to be divided into parts, if one of the parts is at least 14 calendar days.
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Saturdays are paid according to a six-day work week, but you still don’t work during a five-day work week. Therefore, it is better to start the vacation from Monday and cover more Saturdays. This will be additional income.
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Sunday is used as a day on the holiday balance, but is not paid for this day. This is the worst day. There are usually three Sundays in a 21-day continuous vacation.
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A non-working holiday does not use a vacation day and extends the vacation. It is not paid for the day, but extends the rest period.
By splitting the rest of the days into short “Monday-Saturday” chunks, you can get more paid days without spending Sundays.
Keep in mind
● The more you have earned in the 12 months before you take your leave, the more holiday pay you will receive.
● Holidays are paid according to “average salary ÷ 25.3”, and working days are paid according to “monthly salary ÷ working days in a month”. It is profitable when a weekday is cheaper than a holiday.
● The most profitable months for vacation in 2026 are April, June, July and December. The worst month is May. After that, January, February, March and August.
● There is no charge for Sundays and public holidays, but there is a charge for Saturdays. Months with more holidays allow for longer vacations.
● Inhospitable months like May are good for longer vacations.
● The production calendar changes every year, and the dates of religious holidays are determined. Therefore, it is necessary to make an accurate calculation according to specific dates.
