In the practice of our PRWT Accounting Office, we deal with issues related to the calculation of leaves due to employees on a daily basis. At the outset, it is worth remembering that the employee acquires leave, depending on the length of service it can be 20 or 26 days. It is also necessary to distinguish between the situation of an employee taking up the first job in his life and an employee continuing employment in the next job.

An employee who starts his first job in his life acquires the right to leave of 2 days after working each month, until the end of the first year of work. In the second year of work, the employee acquires the right to the entire amount of vacation leave as of 1 January.

So how do you count the leave of an employee who starts his first job, who has worked a few days at the turn of two months?

Let’s take an example: Let’s assume that the employee who took up his first job was hired on June 20, 2021. However, on July 12, 2021, he signed an agreement terminating the employment contract with his employer. Has this employee acquired the right to annual leave? If so, to what extent?

The employee in our example did not acquire the right to leave on the basis of the terminated employment relationship.

  Why?

In order for an employee starting his first job to be entitled to the first leave (2 days), he must have worked a full 30 days. In our example, the employee only worked 22 days, and consequently did not acquire the right to leave at all. However, if the employee starts work with a new employer in 2021, he will be entitled to the first leave (2 days) after working for the new employer for 8 days.

On the other hand, an employee who was previously employed acquires the right to a holiday leave of 20 or 26 days as of January 1 of a given calendar year. So how to calculate the amount of leave of an employee who worked at the turn of two months?

Let us also use an example at this point: Let us assume that an employee who was previously employed and has more than 10 years of work experience, i.e. has the right to a 26-day holiday leave, was employed on January 1, 2021. However, on February 12, 2021, he signed an agreement terminating the employment contract with his employer. Has this employee acquired the right to leave? If so, to what extent?

Yes, the employee in our example will be entitled to vacation.

How to calculate its size?

An employee who changes employer during a calendar year will be entitled to as many vacation days as indicated in proportion to the period of employment, that is:

2/12 x 26 = 4.33

Taking into account that pursuant to Art. 155 3 of the polish Labor Code, when determining the leave in proportion, an incomplete day of leave is rounded to a full day, the employee will be entitled to 5 days of leave:

2/12 x 26 = 4.33 ≈ 5

However, it should be remembered that each case should be considered individually and before calculating the days of vacation leave to which the employee is entitled or not, it is necessary to analyze the provisions of the polish Labor Code in this regard.