The first reading of the Left's project to establish Christmas Eve as a day off from work is scheduled for Friday in the Sejm. The regulation assumes that Christmas Eve will be free for all employees, including those working in commercial establishments.
The Sejm schedule shows that the discussion on the parliamentary bill amending the Act on public holidays will be held from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. The head of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, announced the proposal to make Christmas Eve a day off at the end of October. In the justification for the project, the Left emphasized that Christmas Eve is an important day for all employees and their families.
To make life easier for parents
The authors of the project pointed out that for this reason, employers often decide to shorten working hours to 12:00 or 1:00 p.m. to ensure the safe return of employees home. “Christmas Eve also involves travel and departures of employees and their families so that they can spend this special time with their parents, grandparents and the elderly, who often live in different places in Poland. The proposed solution will enable the distribution of road traffic for a longer period of time, which will contribute to increasing the safety of travelers during this period,” the justification emphasized. Moreover – as added – a day off on Christmas Eve will make it easier to take care of children, who most often do not have educational activities then, but only care activities provided in schools.
The solution is adopted in many countries
The declared effects of the project regulations indicate that Christmas Eve is a statutory day off from work Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, LatviaSlovakia, and Hungary. Katarzyna Ueberhan, MP, was authorized to represent the applicants in the work on the bill in the Sejm. The currently applicable Act on non-working days states that non-working days are: January 1 – New Year's Day, January 6 – Epiphany, the first day of Easter, the second day of Easter, May 1 – National Day, May 3 – National Day May Third, first day of Pentecost, Corpus Christi Day, August 15 Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, November 1 – All Saints' Day, November 1 – National Independence Day, December 25, the first day of Christmas, December 26, the second day of Christmas and Sundays. The following trade unions responded positively to the Left Club's proposal: Solidarity, OPZZ and the Trade Union Forum. The head of “S” Piotr Duda told PAP that Solidarity “has been of the opinion for years that Christmas Eve should be a day off from work.”
The president also declared his initial support for the project of a day off work on Christmas Eve Andrzej Duda (read more in: An additional day off from work. There is the position of president).
Main photo source: PAP