09.11.2022

WHAT HAPPENS TO UNUSED LEAVE UNTIL THE END OF THE YEAR?

How much of our paid annual leave can we carry over to next year and can we lose some unused days this year?

The basic rule is that paid annual leave is used in the calendar year for which it is claimed. However, he can postpone a part of it, but he cannot postpone its use indefinitely. The reason is that there is a two-year statute of limitations for vacations. This means that if you haven't used your leave two years after the year it was for, you lose those days.

The statute of limitations begins to run from the following year for which the leave is taken. For example, until the end of 2022, the last days you have left from 2020 can be used. The statute of limitations stops for the period in which the worker or employee uses another type of leave - for pregnancy and childbirth, for childcare, etc.

Workers and employees who have not reached the age of 18, and mothers with children up to the age of 7, use their vacation in the summer, and at their request - at other times of the year, except in cases where the employer has the right to provide them with paid annual leave leave without their consent.

The employer is obliged to grant paid annual leave to the worker or employee until the end of the relevant calendar year, unless its use is postponed in accordance with Art. 176 (art. 173, para. 5, ex. 2 LC). In case of postponement under Art. 176 LC, the worker or employee is guaranteed the use of not less than half of the paid annual leave due to him for the calendar year (Art. 173, para. 5, ex. 3 LC).

Paid annual leave must be used, it cannot be compensated with monetary compensation, except upon termination of the employment relationship. Upon termination of the employment contract, the employee has the right to monetary compensation for the unused paid annual leave, the right to which has not been extinguished by statute of limitations.

As of 17.07.2015, the obligation for employers to approve a schedule for the use of paid annual leave by December 31 of the previous calendar year has ceased to exist.

For this reason, the provisions regulating the manner and order of use, as well as the postponement of the use of paid annual leave for the next calendar year, have also been amended. The method of using the paid annual leave is regulated in Art. 172 of the Labor Code.

The paid annual leave is used by the employee all at once or in parts, and the law does not determine how many parts the paid annual leave can be used. Therefore, the leave can be divided into parts during use, without a minimum amount limit.