Olsztyn, Leszno, Turek, Golina – the authorities of these local governments, without waiting for the law on a free Christmas Eve, gave officials the holiday off. What solutions did they use to make this happen?
In Olsztyn and Leszno, employees of city offices will have Christmas Eve off under orders issued by the presidents of these cities. This means they will not have to work off work that day. – Christmas Eve is a day to cultivate and strengthen family ties, and the time we can devote to each other is the most valuable gift – argued the mayor of Leszno, Grzegorz Rusiecki. In the opinion of the mayor of Olsztyn, Robert Szewczyk, the closure of the office on December 24 will not cause any inconvenience to residents, because on the Monday before Christmas the office will be open to interested parties until… 18. “We know from experience that few people visit the town hall on Christmas Eve to deal with official matters, hence this day off for officials should not be felt by the residents. In our tradition, Christmas Eve is a special day, so we also want the town hall employees to who serve hundreds of customers every day, could spend this time with their families,” said Szewczyk.
– I have been working on Christmas Eve for years and I don't remember anyone coming to me on that day to take care of business. That day I was sitting at work on tenterhooks and all I could think about was when I would go home, said an official from the town hall in Olsztyn.
Employees of the Turek City Hall will also have a free Christmas Eve. In this city, officials did not receive such a “gift” from their superiors, they just made up for the day earlier, on Saturday, December 7. Smaller local governments in Greater Poland, e.g. Ślesin and Krzymów, also introduced Christmas Eve holidays, but in these local governments this day was made up on December 14.
Free Christmas Eve next year
The Sejm passed an amendment to the act, according to which, from next year, Christmas Eve will be a day off from work. In its original version, the project – submitted by Left MPs – provided that December 24, a day off from work, would be introduced this year. However, the MPs decided that Christmas Eve will be free from 2025, also adopting a provision on an additional shopping Sunday in December. The Senate committees for national economy and family, seniority and social policy unanimously supported the bill establishing December 24 as a day off from 2025. Earlier, the committees rejected the amendments of Magdalena Biejat, who wanted, among other things, for Christmas Eve to be a day off this year. The act is awaiting President Andrzej Duda's decision. Currently, in accordance with the Act on Restriction of Trade on Sundays and Holidays, Christmas Eve is a business day until 2 p.m.
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