The purpose of leave is to allow workers to rest and regenerate. Under the Act on the Labour Code, an employee is entitled to leave based on the time spent at work.

There are, however, cases that should be considered as leave even in the absence of work, such as rest days, holidays, maternity leave, the first six months of unpaid leave to care for a child, incapacity for work, the duration of a compulsory medical examination and two working days in the event of the death of a relative.

The amount of leave:

Leave consists of basic and additional leave. The basic leave is 20 working days, subject to the condition of a full calendar year of employment. The amount of the additional leave is based on the age of the employee, the number of children, the work performance in certain hazardous environment and the worker's state of health.

An employee is entitled to leave even if he is not employed on a full-time basis (part-time). The Act on the Labour Code does not contain any restrictive provisions on part-time work with regards basic and additional leave, so that such workers are entitled to the same amount of leave. The entitlement to leave does not depend on the amount of working time but on the length of time worked.

In the case of employment which starts during the year, leave is granted on a pro rata basis, except for paternity and parental leave. Half days are counted as full days.

Additional leave

All employees are entitled to additional leave based on age from the year in which they reach the following required ages.

Young employees have special situation: they are entitled to 5 days of additional leave, the last in the year in which they turn 18.

Workers are entitled to additional days of leave if they have children, the first in the year of the child's birth and the last in the year in which the child reaches the age of 16. According to the rules of the Act on Labour Code, the definition of the child is a child brought up or cared for in the same household and living with the parent. A parent is defined as a parent by blood or by adoption and the cohabiting spouse. Both parents are entitled to additional leave for children. If the parents are divorced or separated and the child no longer lives with one of them, entitlement to the allowance ceases. From 1 January 2023, entitlement to the allowance will continue even if the separated parents share parental custody for the same amount of time. However, no additional leave is granted in the case of a registered partnership.

In addition to the above, workers who work underground on a permanent basis or who work in a workplace exposed to ionising radiation for at least three hours a day are entitled to 5 working days of additional leave.

Employees with disabilities, persons who are entitled to disability allowance or allowances for the blind are entitled to additional 5 working days' leave per year to take account of their greater need for rest.

Rules for granting leave

It is always the employer's right and obligation to grant leave, however the employer must consult the employee before granting it. Leave must be granted for a period of at least fourteen consecutive calendar days (including weekly rest days, public holidays and days off), but the parties may derogate from this requirement by mutual agreement.

At the same time, the employee may decide to take some of the leave. The employee is entitled to be granted seven working days' leave, or a pro rata part of it in the case of employment starting during the year, in no more than two instalments at the time requested by the employer, except during the first three months of employment.

The date on which the leave is to be granted must be notified to the employee no later than 15 days before the start of the leave and the employee must also keep this deadline in respect of the seven working days' leave.

Leave shall be granted for working days in accordance with the working time schedule. In the event of an irregular work schedule, each day of the week shall be counted as a working day for the purposes of granting leave, except for the weekly rest days and public holidays.

Example:

An employee with irregular work schedule is scheduled as follows during the week.

Monday: working day - scheduled 12 hours

Tuesday: working day - scheduled 12 hours

Wednesday: working day - scheduled 8 hours

Thursday: working day - scheduled 8 hours

Friday: working day - timetable 0 hours - i.e. day off

Saturday: rest day

Sunday: rest day

If the employee would go on leave during this week, then, if the leave is recorded in days, the employee should be granted leave for the working day and the corresponding day off associated with the working day. This means from Monday to Friday.

In the case of an irregular work schedule, it is possible for the employer to record leave in hours. In this case, leave may also be granted in the calendar year in such a way that the employee is exempted from his/her obligation to be available and to work for the same period as the working time.

Based on the example above, an employee who has 20 annual leave and whose contract of employment provides for 8 hours of daily working time has 160 hours of leave per year. In this case, if he wishes to take leave in the above week, the amount of leave he takes must be reduced by the number of hours he is scheduled to take. So, Monday and Tuesday 12 to 12 hours Wednesday and Thursday 8 to 8 hours and Friday 0 hours, for a total of 40 hours, must be deducted from the annual leave entitlement.

Deadline for granting leave

Leave shall be granted in the year in which it is due. In certain cases, the Act on Labour Code allows leave to be taken after the end of the current year.

• If the employment started on or after 1 October, the employer may grant leave until 31 March of the year following the current year.
• If, for reasons on the employee's side, it could not be granted in the current year, it must be granted within 60 days of the end of the reason. Typical cases are for employees on maternity leave.
• However, leave is considered to have been granted in the current year if it is taken in the year in which it is due and the part of the leave in the following year does not exceed five working days. This may be used for Christmas and New Year breaks.

It is up to the parties to agree on the following:

• If a collective agreement provides for it, the employer may grant one quarter of the leave no later than 31 March of the year following the year in which it is due.
• A maximum of 10 working days of age-related additional leave shall be granted by the employer, by agreement between the parties for the calendar year, until the end of the year following the year in which it is due.

A frequently asked question is what options are available if the employee does not have sufficient leave, for example for a planned shutdown period at the end of the year.

It is recommended that employers communicate the duration of planned shutdown and the granting of leave to employees as soon as possible. Proper workforce planning can avoid or minimise the number of cases where employers are no longer able to grant leave for the year -end shutdown.

It is important to note that unpaid leave cannot be granted by the employer, it can only be requested by the employee. Therefore, if the employer can no longer grant leave and cannot fulfil its employment obligations during the period of shutdown, this period constitutes to be downtime during which the employee is entitled to receive basic pay and wage supplement (if the employee in entitled).

As a general rule, leave must be taken in the year in which it is due, so there is no possibility of "bringing forward" the next year's leave, nor can there be any agreement to this effect.

In some cases, the introduction of the working time banking may be justified if the employer considers that it can manage the employment of its workforce in the following months with minor or major fluctuations for various reasons (supply of raw materials, planned shutdowns, whether on the supplier or customer side). The maximum duration of the working time banking is 4 months or 16 weeks; in some cases (uninterrupted, multi-shift, seasonal activity) it may be 6 months or 26 weeks. The main point of its application is that the employer can allocate working time unequally, taking into account the daily working time and the working days according to the general working schedule. Thus, in those weeks when there is a greater demand for labour, the employer may allocate more time to employees, and in weeks when there is less demand or when there is a shortage, the employer may allocate more days off. The introduction of a working time banking does not replace proper leave planning, and its application and the preparation of the schedule require extensive knowledge of labour law.

Interruption of leave, postponement of leave

In a very limited number of cases, the employer has the right to interrupt the leave that has already begun or to change the time when it is taken.

In the case of an exceptionally important economic interest or for a reason directly and seriously affecting the employer's operations, the employer may change the date on which leave is granted or interrupt leave already taken.

There is no precise definition in the law of what constitutes to be an exceptionally important economic interest or a reason directly and seriously affecting the employer's operations.

In practice, it may be a disaster (fire, flood) or a major breakdown which the employer could not have foreseen under any circumstances and which cannot be dealt with by another worker who can replace him.

It is important to note that interrupting the employee's leave, or modify its duration, should be a last resort. The problem should be resolved primarily by the imposition of extraordinary working hours or the use of casual workers.

All damages and costs related to the interruption or modification of the employee's leave must be reimbursed by the employer (e.g. cancelled accommodation, return travel costs, etc.). In the case of interruption of leave that has already begun, the time spent travelling to and from the place of work during the leave and back to work and the time spent at work are not included in the leave. In this case, the time spent at work is necessarily considered to be extraordinary working time, since the employee is not working according to his/her schedule.

Cash payment for leave

The main purpose of the leave is to allow the employee to rest and relax. Accordingly, it must be given to the employee in the first instance. Leave may be taken in cash only on termination of employment. The employer is then obliged to pay the employee for the unused leave in proportion to the date on which the employment relationship ends. Neither the employment contract nor the collective agreement may derogate from this rule.