Unused vacation for 2023 – check dates | JWW Accounting Office

Unused vacation for 2023 – check dates

The deadline for using the outstanding leave from 2023 is September 30, 2024. Paid vacation leave is guaranteed by the Labor Code. Depending on the length of service, employees are entitled to 20 to 26 days of leave. Importantly, any unused leave from 2020 will expire on September 30, 2024.

Right to Leave

The employer is obliged to grant vacation leave during the calendar year in which the employee is entitled to it. However, it often happens that this is not possible.

The only permissible exceptions to this rule are:

postponing the leave at the express request of the employee,
reasons arising from the special needs of the employer,
justified absence from work,
interrupted leave in situations specified in the regulations or if the employee was called back from leave.

Important!
If an employee does not use the full amount of leave by the end of the calendar year, starting January 1, this leave becomes outstanding leave. The deadline for granting the outstanding leave will be met if the first day of leave is September 30 (even if the end of the leave is after that date).

Leave on Demand

This obligation does not apply to the 4 days of leave on demand. This entitlement is available only for the given calendar year, and if not used by the employee, it does not carry over to the next year. In practice, this means that if an employee did not use or used less than 4 days of leave on demand in a given year, it does not transfer to the next year.

Rules for Agreeing on the Leave Date

The general rule is that the leave date should be agreed upon with the employee. There are some uncertainties regarding whether the employer can unilaterally and bindingly order the use of outstanding leave within the timeframe specified by the Labor Code. Some court rulings indicate that the employer does not need the employee’s consent when granting outstanding leave by September 30, while other legal opinions suggest otherwise. Therefore, it is advisable that the employer and employee mutually agree on the leave date.

Financial Compensation for Unused Leave

Vacation leave cannot be monetized. In principle, days off should be taken in the form of time for rest and recovery, as provided by law. The only exception to this rule is if the employee does not manage to use their entitled vacation days before the termination of employment. In such cases, they are entitled to monetary compensation for unused leave.

What Happens If the Employer Fails to Grant the Outstanding Leave by September 30?

If an employee does not begin their outstanding leave by September 30, they may still use it until it expires. The leave expires 3 years from the day it became due. The countdown begins:

at the end of the calendar year for which the leave is due, or
if the leave was postponed due to reasons related to the employee or employer, at the latest by the end of September of the following year.

For example, the right to vacation leave for 2023 will expire on September 30, 2027.

IMPORTANT!

If an employer fails to grant the employee their entitled vacation leave or unjustifiably reduces its duration, this constitutes an offense punishable by a fine ranging from PLN 1,000 to PLN 30,000.

Legal Basis:
– Articles 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 282 §1 point 2, and 291 §1 of the Labor Code of June 26, 1974 (Journal of Laws 2020, item 1320),
– Article 15gc of the Act of March 2, 2020, on special solutions related to the prevention, counteraction, and combating of COVID-19, other infectious diseases, and crisis situations caused by them (Journal of Laws 2020, item 1842).

Case Law:
– Supreme Court Judgment of April 11, 2001, I PKN 367/00,
– Supreme Court Judgment of September 2, 2003, I PK 403/02,
– Supreme Court Judgment of January 24, 2005, I PK 124/05.