13.07.2022

HOW MUCH LEAVE CAN WE CARRY OVER TO NEXT YEAR?

The use of paid annual leave is regulated in Art. 172 of the Labor Code (LC), according to which the paid annual leave is allowed to the worker or employee all at once or in parts. In Art. 173, para. 1 of the LC stipulates that paid annual leave is used by the worker or employee with written permission from the employer. To use paid annual leave, the employee must submit a written request to the employer. The written permission from the employer is given by an order or other written document that the worker or employee must obtain.

According to Art. 173, para. 5 of the LC, the worker or employee uses his paid annual leave until the end of the calendar year to which it refers. 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. In this case, 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.

According to Art. 176, para. 1 of the Labor Code, the use of paid annual leave can be postponed for the next calendar year: 1. by the employer - due to important production reasons under the condition of Art. 173, para. 5, sentence three; 2. by the worker or employee - when he/she uses another type of leave or at his request with the consent of the employer.

When the leave is postponed or not used until the end of the calendar year to which it refers, the employer is obliged to ensure its use in the following calendar year, but no later than 6 months, counting from the end of the calendar year to which it refers applies - Art. 176, para. 2 of LC. The provision of Art. 176, para. 3 of the LC indicates that when the employer has not authorized the use of the leave in the cases and within the terms under para. 2, the worker or employee has the right to determine the time of its use by notifying the employer in writing at least 14 days in advance.

According to Art. 176a, para. 1 of the LC, when the paid annual leave or a part of it is not used until the expiration of two years from the end of the year for which it is due, regardless of the reasons for this, the right to use it is extinguished by statute of limitations. In Art. 176a, para. 2 of the LC provides that when the paid annual leave is postponed under the conditions and according to the procedure of Art. 176, para. 1, the employee's or employee's right to use it is extinguished by statute of limitations after the expiration of two years from the end of the year in which the reason for its non-use ceased. The paid annual leave for 2018 must be used until 31.12.2020, after which the right to use it is extinguished by statute of limitations.