One of the items that must always be included in a final settlement (finiquito), regardless of why the contract ended, is the proportional part of vacation days accrued and not taken. The calculation, though conceptually simple, has nuances worth understanding.
The legal minimum right to vacation
The Workers' Statute sets a minimum of 30 calendar days of vacation per year, although almost all collective agreements improve on this minimum figure, and some express it in working days rather than calendar days, which means you need to pay close attention to how your specific agreement is worded so as not to confuse the two units.
Calendar days vs. working days: a meaningful difference
When an agreement refers to "22 working days" of vacation, that figure doesn't directly equal 22 calendar days, since working days exclude weekends. It's common for 22 working days to equal roughly 30-31 calendar days, so it's worth checking which unit your specific entitlement is expressed in before doing any calculation.
How the proportional accrued amount is calculated
Vacation days accrued = (Annual vacation days ÷ 365) × Days worked in the current year
For example, with 30 calendar days a year and 180 days worked in the year up to the termination date: 30 ÷ 365 × 180 ≈ 14.8 days of vacation accrued in that period.
How that entitlement is converted into money
Amount to be paid = Outstanding vacation days × Daily salary
The daily salary is usually calculated by dividing the gross monthly salary by 30 (or according to the specific criteria set out in your collective agreement, which can vary slightly).
What happens if you already took more vacation than you'd accrued
If, by the time the contract ends, you've taken more vacation days than you'd actually accrued up to that date (for example, if you took your full year's vacation early in the year and then leave the company mid-year), the company can deduct the amount corresponding to those excess days from your final settlement.
Vacation can't be paid out in cash while you're still employed
It's important to distinguish this settlement (which happens when the contract ends) from the situation of an active employee: while the contract is in force, the right to vacation cannot be replaced with a cash payment except in very exceptional cases, since the purpose of vacation rest isn't considered fulfilled by a simple payment.
One more piece of the full settlement
The severance pay calculator on this site includes this pro-rated vacation calculation along with the rest of the items (outstanding salary, bonus payments, and severance if applicable), for a complete estimate.