A loophole in the system. This is how employees extend their days off

Poles are increasingly eager to use calendar opportunities and applicable regulations to extend their days off from work. A few well-planned days off, a leave of absence due to force majeure or leave on demand are enough to gain even more than a month of rest in 2025.

Although labor law provides a clearly defined number of vacation days, more and more employees find ways to bypass the standard limits. This is helped by favorable arrangements of days off in the calendar and privileges such as leave due to force majeure. However, employers are sounding the alarm - this creates a large area for potential abuse by employees , which will disrupt the work of other people in the teams.

In 2025, the favourable arrangement of holidays and weekends means that if you plan your holiday properly, you will be able to get as many as 39 days off , using only 9 days of holiday leave.

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In the first half of the year, there are dates that allow for extended time off, including the beginning of January, the period from April 22 to 25, and May 2. In the following months, it is worth paying attention to June 20 and November 10. Combining vacation days with long weekends gives you the opportunity to rest longer without significantly reducing your annual vacation limit.

Since 26 April 2023, the Labour Code has introduced provisions enabling people to take time off work due to force majeure. They are entitled to two days or 16 hours of such time off per year, while retaining 50% of their salary.

As Interia reports, this mechanism is increasingly used not only in sudden, accidental situations, but also to extend weekends or holidays . Mikołaj Zając, president of Conperio, quoted by the portal, draws attention to this.

According to the Labor Code, every employee is entitled to 4 days of leave on demand per year. This is another loophole to extend your free time.

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As Rzeczpospolita describes, employees most often take leave on demand on Fridays or Mondays , which, combined with the weekend, gives them a longer period to rest without prior planning.

The year 2025 will also bring additional days off resulting from the fact that two holidays: May 3 and November 1 - fall on a Saturday. According to the regulations, employers must give an employee an additional day off for a holiday that falls on a non-working day. This is another way to extend the number of days off in a year.

Although all the described solutions are in line with the applicable law, labor market experts point out the potential risk of abuse. Frequent use of the force majeure mechanism without a real need can disrupt the functioning of teams and negatively affect trust between employees and employers.