Virgin Islands (UK)

Employment Contracts

An employment contract can take several forms in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). An employment contract can be expressed, implied, written, oral, indefinite term or fixed-term contracts. However, the employer must give the employee a written statement when the employment contract exceeds four months. The statement must contain the following provisions:

• Name and address of the employer and employee
• Responsibilities and duties of the employee
• Hours of work and rest periods
• The employee’s pay and methods of computing, the occurrence of the payment
• The term of employment, if other than indefinite
• The period of probation if any
• The employee’s leave and vacation entitlement

Public Holidays

The following holidays are observed in the Virgin Islands (UK)

• New Year’s Day
• Hamilton Lavity Stoutt’s Birthday
• Commonwealth Day
• Good Friday
• Easter Monday
• Sovereign’s Birthday
• Whit Monday
• Territory Day
• Festival Monday
• Festival Tuesday
• Festival Wednesday
• St. Ursula’s Day
• Christmas Day
• Boxing Day

Compensation

There is no statutory bonus in the British Virgin Islands. However, employers may be required to pay employees a bonus under the terms of an individual employment contract or collective agreement.

Working Hours

The standard workweek is 40 hours, with eight-hour workdays over five days. Overtime is limited to at four hours a day. Employees are entitled to extra pay for working overtime. Pay generally is 150% of the employee’s regular wage.

Vacation Leave

Employees receive between 12 and 20 days of annual leave each year depending on how many years of service they have.

Sick Leave

Employees are entitled to a statutory 12 days of paid sick leave after four months of service. An employee must notify the employer on the first day of his or her absence and provide a medical certificate. Eligible employees receive social security benefits while on leave.

Maternity / Paternity Leave

Female employees are entitled to 13 weeks of paid maternity leave after 12 months of continuous employment. The leave can be taken at least six weeks after birth and can be extended up to three months in the event of a pregnancy-related illness. Eligible employees receive an allowance from social security while on maternity leave.

There is no paid statutory paternity leave, but male employees can take a month of unpaid leave.

Employment Termination / Severance

Employers can terminate an employment contract by providing notice to the employee. The notice period starts at pay interval and years of service and increases to two months depending on the employee’s length of service. However, no notice is required if the employee is being dismissed for misconduct.

Special rules apply to collective dismissals or if the employee is a member of a trade union.
Severance payment shall consist of three-quarters of one day’s pay or nine days’ pay per year, for each month of the employee period of employment. The pay rate is based on the employee’s basic wage.

Health Insurance Benefits

Private healthcare insurance is recommended.