The End of 26 Days of Vacation Per Year. New Regulations Have Overturned the Rules in Workplaces

The regulations precisely define the amount of annual leave an employee is entitled to. The decisive factor is length of service.

• 20 days - if you have been working for less than 10 years,
• 26 days - if you have been working for at least 10 years

But that's not all. Additional time off (independent of length of service) over and above the vacation leave limit was introduced by an important amendment to the Labor Code of April 26, 2023, which implemented two EU directives on transparent working conditions and work-life balance into Polish law.

The new regulations have opened up the possibility of taking up to 35 days of leave during a calendar year. This is possible if we add up the basic package of holiday leave, existing solutions and two new options introduced by EU directives.

As a result, today the Labor Code provides, among others:

• 20 or 26 days of vacation leave depending on length of service
• 5 days of carer's leave (not only for parents, regardless of length of service)
• 2 days of so-called force majeure leave (regardless of length of service) childcare for 2 days or 16 hours (regardless of length of service)

Force majeure. Time off paid at 50% of salary

Free from force majeure is a new solution introduced into the Labour Code after the implementation of the EU work-life balance directive.

It assumes that every employee can take 2 days or 16 hours of leave from work due to force majeure during a calendar year. There is no need to document force majeure, and the employer cannot refuse leave, but it must be remembered that unused time does not carry over to the next year.

Force majeure leave rules:

• force majeure leave is 16 hours or 2 days of additional leave per calendar year;
• 50% of salary is paid on time off,
• the employer is obliged to grant leave upon request submitted by the employee no later than the day of using this leave; there is no specific template for the content of such an application
• the employee decides how to use the leave in a given calendar year
• leave granted on an hourly basis for an employee employed part-time is determined in proportion to the working time of that employee.
• force majeure is urgent family matters, such as an accident or illness, which require the employee to be present in another place. This is about the employee dealing with urgent matters - which are beyond his control and require his personal presence.

5 days of care leave for a "family member" not only for parents

The amendment to the Labor Code related to the work-life balance directive also introduced 5 additional days of care leave. Anyone can take the leave, not just parents, because the leave is "for a family member", including a child, but also parents, spouse or partner.

An employee may take carer's leave to provide care or support to a person who is a family member or lives in the same household and who requires care or support for serious medical reasons.

According to the regulations, the following are considered family members:

• son,
• daughter,
• mother,
• father
• spouse.

Rules for carer's leave:

• the employee is not entitled to remuneration for the period of care leave
• carer's leave can be used once or in parts. The period of carer's leave is included in the period of employment.
• carer's leave is granted on days that are working days for the employee, in accordance with the work schedule applicable to him
• the period of care leave does not affect the amount of holiday leave or leave on demand
• the employer cannot refuse the employee this leave or demand the presentation of medical documentation of the person requiring care
• carer's leave is granted at the employee's request submitted in paper or electronic form no later than 1 day before the start of this leave

Childcare - 2 days or 16 hours

So-called child care is not new in the regulations, but it is definitely worth mentioning.

Rules:

• Childcare leave is available to employees who:
• are raising at least one child up to the age of 14, the duration is 16 hours or 2 days
• the employee retains the right to remuneration

Importantly, the right to leave is granted to employees raising a child; the regulations do not refer to parenthood or any other formal bond (an employee who is a parent but does not raise a child will not have the right to take this leave).

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