requires that an

employee who has provided at least

one year of service is entitled to a paid

service incentive leave of 5 days. In

ordinary parlance, the service

incentive leave is really a vacation

leave. Prior to the enactment of the

Labor Code, it was a practice to grant

employees 15 days leave or more per

year of service, especially if there is a

union or a collective bargaining

agreement. Article 95 of the Code

prescribes the minimum of 5 days

vacation leave with pay. It is not

merely to the worker's additional salary

or bounty. A paid vacation leave is

required in order to afford him or her

the needed rest and renewed vitality.

The five-day incentive leave is

mandatory. An additional number

beyond five is voluntary or granted as

a result of collective bargaining. At this

juncture, it may be well to mention that

the sick leave benefit is not required by

any law except that in practice,

companies do grant sick leave

generally about the same number of

days as vacation leave.