On Wednesday, MPs voted in favor of introducing an additional day off from work on Christmas Eve. The changes will come into force in 2025. The amendment also provides that from next year, three Sundays preceding Christmas Eve will be commercial.
425 MPs voted for the adoption of the act, 10 against. 12 MPs abstained from voting.
Earlier, the Sejm rejected, among others, amendments by PiS and the Left to make Christmas Eve free from this year.
Left Project
The Left's project assumed establishing December 24 as a day off from work. The joint committees for economy and development and social policy and family issued a positive opinion on the project on Tuesday. At the same time, they supported the KO amendment so that the new regulations would enter into force on February 1, 2025.
The act adopted on Wednesday also included a provision that: three Sundays before Christmas Eve will be commercial. According to current commercial regulations, there are two Sundays in the last month of the year (in 2024, December 15 and 22).
During the second reading of the bill, which took place earlier on Wednesday, there was a heated debate on the bill and the proposed amendments.
– Several amendments were tabled during the committee's work. Two amendments were adopted and became part of the draft, explained rapporteur Katarzyna Ueberhan during the second reading. At the same time, she assessed that the project was intended by the authors to be a project about an additional day off from work, and a the adopted amendments are contrary to the spirit and intention of the proposers.
PiS MP Jan Mosiński, presenting the club's position, said that it was thanks to PiS that they managed to limit trading on Sundays. He also referred to changes in the draft act. – With these changes, you are declaring war on Polish women and Polish families, because what you propose is extremely harmful. First of all – introducing a third Sunday in exchange for a free Christmas Eve is an indecent and not serious frivolity. (…) Here, there is no consent from PiS to agree to this provision. (…) There is no consent to forcing Polish women and men to work extra on Sundays – said Mosiński.
“Our proposal is simple”
KO MP Dorota Marek said that “families will gain more time to prepare for Christmas, entrepreneurs will gain increased flexibility thanks to an additional shopping Sunday, and customers will be able to do their pre-Christmas shopping without unnecessary worries.” MP Ryszard Petru (Poland 2050-TD) stated that Recognizing Christmas Eve as a non-working day as early as 2024 would mean huge complications for business. He noted that the vacatio legis would be less than 30 days, and in such a short time entrepreneurs would not be able to prepare for the changes. According to Mirosław Adam Orliński (PSL-TD), it is reasonable that the project should not be a surprise for entrepreneurs, and at the same time Christmas Eve should be a day off from work. According to MP Daria Gosek-Popiołek (Left), millions of Poles were waiting for this act. However, she announced that the Left would submit amendments “that would restore the original version of the project”. – Our proposal is simple. One additional day off from work – December 24 – for all employees from 2024 – she said. She also said that there is no reason to introduce additional trading Sundays because these issues are not related. MP Grzegorz Adam Płaczek (Confederation), in turn, emphasized that – According to expert estimates, each additional day off means losses for the economy ranging from PLN 3 to 5 billion. He also said that for some sectors, Christmas Eve is one of the most profitable days of the year. – The decision on this matter should be preceded by a debate, economic analysis and social consultations. We cannot afford hasty decisions that may bring more problems than benefits, he said.
The minister criticizes the amendments
On Wednesday in the Sejm, the Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, criticized two amendments to the draft regarding a free Christmas Eve. – Introducing an additional working Sunday for trade employees means giving these employees an additional day at workand not giving Christmas Eve off, she said. – On October 15, the coalition made promises – nothing that is given will be taken away – she added, appealing to MPs to keep the promise.
Employees for, employers against
The idea of declaring December 24 a day off from work was widely commented on.
Trade unions were in favor of establishing Christmas Eve as a day off from work – Solidarity, OPZZ and Trade Union Forum. The head of “S” Piotr Duda pointed out that Solidarity “has been of the opinion for years that Christmas Eve should be a day off from work.” Employers were against this solutionwho argue that they should not be surprised when it comes to the law.
Finance Minister Andrzej Domański also assessed the idea of a free Christmas Eve as a “bad solution”. – We calculated at the Ministry of Finance that the cost for the economy would be approximately PLN 4 billion and for the budget at PLN 2.3 billion – he said.
The Left's project proposed establishing December 24 as a day off for all employees, including employees of commercial establishmentsfor which now, in accordance with the Act on Restriction of Trade on Sundays and Holidays, Christmas Eve is a working day until 2 p.m. The justification for the Left's project emphasizes that Christmas Eve is an important day for all employees and their families who spend this time cultivating, among others, religious traditions. “It should be noted that for this reason, employers often decide to shorten working hours to 12:00 or 1:00 p.m. in order to ensure the safe return of employees home to their loved ones. Additionally, it is worth noting that the day off will apply to all employees, including employees of commercial establishments who work until 2 p.m. on that day,” wrote the authors of the project.
Main photo source: PAP/Rafał Guz