Annual leave is only one piece of the leave puzzle across Southeast Asia. Employers hiring in the region must also comply with mandatory sick leave, maternity and paternity leave, public holidays, and in some countries, long service leave. Missing any of these obligations creates legal exposure, damages employee trust, and complicates payroll. This guide maps the full statutory leave picture across Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore so you know exactly where your obligations stand in 2026.
TL;DR
- Annual leave minimums vary from 5 days (Philippines) to 18 days (Cambodia) depending on tenure [remofirst.com][betterwork.org][ayp-group.com]
- Maternity leave is the most significant non-annual leave obligation in every SEA market, ranging from 60 to 105 days
- Public holiday counts differ widely by country and cannot be offset against annual leave
- 2026 has brought several employment law updates across the region that affect leave administration [theemployerreport.com][beyondbordershr.com]
- Employers should treat statutory leave as a compliance floor, not a competitive benefits ceiling
About the Author: High Five is a hiring platform focused exclusively on Southeast Asian talent markets, with deep expertise in employer compliance, regional employment law, and the practical realities of building teams across Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore.
Why Does Understanding the Full Leave Picture Matter for Employers?
Statutory leave is not just an HR administrative task. It is a legal obligation that varies meaningfully by country, and the gaps between countries are large enough to create serious compliance risk if you treat the region as a single policy zone.
Most employers focus on annual leave when benchmarking compensation packages, but regulators in Southeast Asia increasingly scrutinize the full leave stack: sick leave entitlements, maternity and paternity protections, and public holiday compliance are all enforcement priorities [theemployerreport.com]. Getting any of these wrong can expose your company to back-pay claims, penalties, or reputational damage when competing for talent.
The table below provides a country-by-country baseline before we go deeper.
| Country | Annual Leave (Min.) | Sick Leave | Maternity Leave | Paternity Leave | Public Holidays |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indonesia | 12 days [ayp-group.com] | Paid (doctor-certified) | 3 months | Not mandated nationally | ~16 days |
| Vietnam | 12 days [metasource.co] | 30 days (social insurance funded) | 6 months | 5-14 days | 11 days |
| Malaysia | 8-16 days (tenure-based) [talenthub.glints.com] | 14-22 days | 98 days | 7 days | 11 days |
| Philippines | 5 days SIL [remofirst.com] | Covered under SIL/SSS | 105 days | 7 days | 18 days |
| Singapore | 7-14 days (tenure-based) | 14 days outpatient / 60 days hospitalization | 16 weeks | 2 weeks (government-paid) | 11 days |
What Sick Leave Must Employers Provide in Each Country?
Sick leave rules across SEA are inconsistent in structure, which makes regional policy alignment harder than it looks.
Indonesia: There is no fixed statutory number of sick days under Indonesian law. Instead, employees who cannot work due to illness are entitled to continued salary, with the rate reducing over time for prolonged absences. Employers typically require a medical certificate from a registered doctor. This system rewards genuine illness but creates administrative overhead for employers tracking extended absences [ayp-group.com].
Vietnam: Sick leave in Vietnam is funded through the social insurance system rather than directly by the employer. Employees are entitled to up to 30 sick days per year (or more for certain conditions), paid at a percentage of their contributory salary. This means the cost to the employer is indirect, through contributions, rather than a direct payroll burden for each sick day [metasource.co].
Malaysia: Employees are entitled to 14 days of paid sick leave per year if they have served less than two years, rising to 18 days for two to five years, and 22 days for more than five years. These entitlements increase further when hospitalization is required [talenthub.glints.com].
Philippines: The Philippines does not have a separate statutory sick leave entitlement in the conventional sense. The five-day Service Incentive Leave can be used for sick purposes, and additional protections come through the Social Security System for longer absences [remofirst.com].
Singapore: Singapore provides one of the more employee-protective sick leave schemes in the region. Employees with at least three months of service are entitled to 14 days of paid outpatient sick leave and 60 days of paid hospitalization leave per year.
How Does Maternity Leave Compare Across SEA Markets?
Maternity leave is the most consequential non-annual leave obligation for employers, both in terms of duration and cost.
The Philippines leads the region at 105 days of paid maternity leave, extendable by 30 days without pay and with an additional 15 days for solo parents. Vietnam follows at 6 months (approximately 180 days), funded through the social insurance system so the employer does not bear the full salary cost directly. Singapore provides 16 weeks of government-paid maternity leave for qualifying births.
Malaysia moved to 98 days of maternity leave following recent amendments, an increase from 60 days that reflects a broader regional trend toward stronger parental protections [beyondbordershr.com]. Indonesia remains at 3 months, though enforcement attention has increased as part of the 2026 labor compliance push in the region [theemployerreport.com].
Paternity leave summary:
- Vietnam: 5 days (normal delivery) to 14 days (caesarean or multiple births)
- Philippines: 7 days
- Malaysia: 7 days
- Singapore: 2 weeks (government-paid for qualifying births)
- Indonesia: Not mandated at the national statutory level
What Are the Public Holiday Obligations Employers Cannot Overlook?
Building on the maternity discussion above, a separate but equally concrete obligation is public holiday compliance. Unlike annual leave, public holidays are fixed by government calendar and cannot be offset, waived, or substituted without specific legal authorization in most SEA jurisdictions.
The Philippines has one of the highest public holiday counts in the region, with distinctions between regular holidays (100% additional pay if worked) and special non-working holidays (30% additional pay if worked). The Philippines recognizes 18 paid public holidays, comprising 10 regular holidays and 8 special non-working holidays. This two-tier system creates payroll complexity that employers often underestimate.
Vietnam’s public holiday entitlement runs to 11 days, while Singapore sits at 11 gazetted public holidays. Malaysia provides at least 11 paid public holidays under the Employment Act, though state-level additions apply in certain states.
A critical point: requiring employees to work on a public holiday without the legally specified premium pay is one of the most common compliance violations across the region, and it is increasingly targeted by labor inspectorates in 2026 [theemployerreport.com].
What Is Long Service Leave and Where Does It Apply?
Long service leave is an additional paid leave entitlement granted to employees who have worked for a single employer for an extended period, typically several years. It is distinct from annual leave and is not universally mandated across SEA.
Indonesia provides additional leave entitlement for employees who have completed 6 years of continuous service with the same employer, granting 1 month of leave in the 7th and 8th years of service [ayp-group.com]. This is a genuine long service entitlement and is often overlooked by foreign employers unfamiliar with Indonesian labor law.
Vietnam and Malaysia have analogous seniority-based increases built into annual leave scales rather than discrete long service leave blocks [talenthub.glints.com][metasource.co].
Frequently Asked Questions
Is annual leave the same as Service Incentive Leave in the Philippines? Yes. The Philippines’ statutory paid leave is called Service Incentive Leave (SIL), which provides 5 days per year after one year of service. It can be used for vacation or sick purposes [remofirst.com].
Does the employer pay for maternity leave directly in Vietnam? No. Maternity benefits in Vietnam are paid through the social insurance fund, not directly by the employer, provided the employee has met the minimum contribution period.
Are public holidays included in annual leave quotas? No. Public holidays are separate from annual leave in all five SEA markets covered here. They cannot be deducted from an employee’s annual leave balance.
What happens if an employee is required to work on a public holiday in the Philippines? The employee is entitled to an additional 100% of their daily rate on top of their regular pay for regular holidays. For special non-working holidays, it is an additional 30% [remofirst.com].
Does Indonesia mandate paternity leave? There is no national statutory paternity leave in Indonesia. Some companies offer it as a company policy, but it is not a legal minimum.
How does Taiwan’s annual leave compare to SEA markets? Taiwan’s leave system uses a tenure-based scale, starting at 3 days for the first 6 months and rising to 7 days at 1 year, 10 days at 2 years, and 14 days at 3 years [vacationtracker.io]. This is more gradual than most SEA markets.
Which SEA country offers the most maternity leave? Vietnam provides the longest statutory maternity leave at 6 months. The Philippines follows with 105 days for qualifying employees [remofirst.com].
About High Five
High Five is a hiring platform that helps founders and operators build teams across Southeast Asia. The platform combines AI-assisted sourcing with human expert review to provide pre-screened candidates on a flat monthly subscription. High Five publishes in-depth compliance and hiring content covering employment law, payroll, and statutory obligations across Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore, helping employers navigate the region’s regulatory complexity with confidence.
If you are hiring in Southeast Asia and want a partner who understands both the talent landscape and the compliance environment, visit High Five to learn more.
