35 days of annual leave for employees. Ministry of Labor on the rules

The Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy regularly responded to the letter regarding increasing the amount of annual leave to 35 days for employees aged 55 and over.

The Department of Labor Law provided an unequivocal response to the demands. It stated that "the applicable regulations guarantee employees the right to rest, which is ensured by the regulations on working time, days off from work and vacation leave."

In this respect, these provisions are consistent with the provisions of Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 concerning certain aspects of the organisation of working time, which states in Article 6 that Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that, in accordance with the need to protect the safety and health of workers:

(a) the weekly working time is limited by legislative, regulatory or administrative provisions or collective agreements or agreements concluded between the social partners;

b) the average working time over a seven-day period, including overtime, does not exceed 48 hours.

It is also stated that under current law, the amount of holiday leave for a full-time employee is:

• 20 days - if the employee has been employed for less than 10 years and
• 26 days - if the employee has been employed for at least 10 years (Article 154 § 1 of the Labor Code).

Importantly, such a length of leave is in line with Article 7(1) of Directive 2003/88/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. It is also noted that "in accordance with this provision of the Directive, Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that every worker is entitled to paid annual leave of at least four weeks in accordance with the conditions for entitlement and granting of such leave laid down by national legislation and/or practice."

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