Failure to grant an employee a fourteen-day vacation is a violation of the regulations on vacation leaves, Tomasz Zalewski from the National Labor Inspectorate tells the tvn24 business editorial office. He adds that the labor inspector may send an application to the employer to remove the identified violations.
It doesn't matter whether you want to go abroad, to the Polish seaside, to your aunt in Podlasie, or spend your time off cleaning your house. According to Polish law, it matters how long you take it for at one time.”At least one part of the holiday should last no less than 14 consecutive calendar days.” – provides for the Labor Code.
– Failure by the employer to provide the above-mentioned amount of rest does not constitute an offence against the employee's rights, however, it is a violation of the regulations on annual leave – explains Tomasz Zalewski, acting spokesman for the Chief Labor Inspector, in an interview with the business editorial office of tvn24.pl. What does this mean in practice?
Vacation leave. How many days?
An employee employed under an employment contract, because only such an employee is entitled to vacation leave, can take 20 or 26 days of fully paid vacation during a calendar year. This is provided for by Polish law. Its length depends on the length of service, and it also includes the time spent in education. In addition, some professional groups are entitled to up to 35 days of vacation, e.g. civil servants. However, according to the Labor Code, each of them “has the right to uninterrupted vacation leave”, including one part of it being 2 weeks.
– In the absence of 14 days of leave the labor inspector may submit a request to the employer to eliminate the identified violations – explains Tomasz Zalewski. – Dividing the employee's vacation leave into short, several-day periods does not fulfill the obligation resulting from Article 162 of the Labor Code – he adds.
At the employee's request, the leave may be divided into parts. In such a case, however, at least one part of the leave should last no less than 14 consecutive calendar days.
Consequences for the employer of not granting fourteen days of leave
– There is no risk of a fine for an employer who does not grant 14 days of leave in one part during the year. Regardless of whether it is the result of their will or the employee's – explains Tomasz Zalewski from the Chief Labor Inspectorate to the business editorial office of tvn24.pl – Such cases are a violation, but not an offense. Both in situations when an employee applies for 14 days of leave and does not receive it, and in a situation when the employee does not want to use such an opportunity and divides his leave into shorter periods – he adds.
– In both cases, the inspector sends a letter to the employer, indicating that the employer is acting improperly by not granting 14 days of leave. Because in both cases, the employer does not realize the goal of the idea of ​​rest. And this minimum of 14 days, according to the legislator's intention, is to be a special opportunity for regeneration – he informs.
Tomasz Zalewski explains that an offence subject to a sanction would be, for example, failure to grant an employee leave by the end of the year, or by 30 September of the following calendar year in the case of overdue leave.
– It is difficult to punish an employer for meeting the employee's goals if the employee needs to use their leave differently. On the other hand, the regulations also do not punish an employer in a situation where their production processes do not allow for granting an employee a single long vacation leave – he adds.
He explains that in the event of an employee's complaint to the National Labour Inspectorate, an inspector will come to the workplace and conduct an inspection. – If, as a result of the inspection, he determines that the employee is actually taking leave in a period shorter than 14 days, then he sends a letter to the employer, in which he indicates a recommendation to start applying the regulations on annual leave correctly. The employer must respond to them – says Tomasz Zalewski. He adds that then most of such entrepreneurs follow the recommendations of the National Labour Inspectorate.
Postponing and interrupting vacation. When is it possible?
The employee cannot start the leave without the employer's consent. The date of taking the leave should be agreed between the parties to the employment relationship.
However, according to the Labor Code, there are specific situations in which leave is postponed or interrupted. These include: diseaseincluding infectious, call-up for military exercises and maternity leave.
– For example, if an employee falls ill during their holiday and receives medical advice from a doctor sick leave the leave is interrupted, and the employer is obliged to grant the employee the unused part of the leave at a later date – explains Tomasz Zalewski from the National Labor Inspectorate.
In addition, the Labor Code also provides employers with possibility of postponing the holiday date“Postponing the date of leave is also permissible due to the special needs of the employer, if the employee's absence would cause serious disruptions to the course of work,” we read.
The employer may recall the employee from leave if unforeseen circumstances at the time of commencement of leave require their presence at work. In such a case, however, the employer must reimburse the employee for expenses incurred by him due to cancellation of leave – according to the Labor Code.
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