Day off on demand in Poland: up to 4 days per year
Employees have the right useful right to 4 day off on demand per year if they need to deal with their personal or family issues.
It’s up to the employee to decide on when to take the day off on demand. These 4 days are not included in the official holiday and can be used separately or at once.
However, days off on demand reduce the employee’s length of annual holiday by a corresponding number of days. Moreover, the legal character of holiday on demand is basically the same as the “normal” employee holiday, so the general provisions apply – such as the rule that one day of leave corresponds to 8 hours of work.
Day off on demand: refusal
In most cases the employer is obliged to grant a day off to the employee, but certain exceptions apply. The Polish Supreme Court ruled that the employer can refuse a day off on demand if the refusal is justified by special circumstances which require the employee to be present at work.
Employees should not abuse the right to a day off on demand. It should not lead to exerting pressure on an employer by a group of employees to achieve particular benefits.
The employee is under a duty to respect the employer’s interests. So the employee should request a day off on demand before the working day starts.
The request doesn’t need to be made in writing. Any effective method (e.g. phone call) is sufficient.
The employee has the right to maximum 4 days off on demand per year, regardless of the number of employers where the employee works.