Chapter 5 — Annual Leave and Vacation. All full-time employees based in EU offices are entitled to twenty-five (25) paid vacation days per calendar year, prorated for employees who join after 1 January. Part-time employees receive a proportional allocation based on their contracted hours. Vacation days accrue on a monthly basis at approximately 2.08 days per month. Employees may not take more than fifteen (15) consecutive working days of vacation without prior approval from their department head and HR. Requests for vacation of five (5) or more consecutive days must be submitted at least fourteen (14) calendar days in advance through the HR self-service portal. Managers are expected to respond to vacation requests within three (3) business days. In the event of conflicting requests within the same team, seniority of service shall be used as the primary tiebreaker, followed by the date of request submission.