From January 1, 6 more days of vacation. New regulations adopted

• The length of service is to include periods of running a sole proprietorship and work under contracts of mandate - according to a project adopted by the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers.
• We want to put an end to the current injustice and equalize opportunities in access to employee benefits - informs the Ministry of Family.
• The new regulations are to enter into force on 1 January 2026.

There is still a long way to go before Poland adopts a four-day work week, and it is not known whether it will ever happen. However, the average weekly working time can also be reduced by extending the duration of vacation leave, because this means fewer hours worked per year.

This effect will be achieved by including the period of running a sole proprietorship and work under contracts of mandate in the length of service. The draft law on this matter has just been adopted by the government's Standing Committee. Until now, only the time spent and worked on a full-time basis, i.e. under an employment contract, was considered length of service.

The effect on the length of leave is that its length in Poland is 20 or 26 working days per year, and when you become entitled to 26 days depends on the length of service.

• This occurs when the length of service amounts to 10 years.
• So if someone has been in a full-time job for, say, three years, but previously worked on a contract for services for eight years, then according to the current regulations they are entitled to 20 days of leave, and for another 6 days per year they have to wait another seven years.
• After the changes are introduced, he will not have to wait, because his seniority after taking into account the contract of mandate will be eleven years, not three years.
• As a result, the number of workers entitled to longer vacations will increase across the economy. This, in turn, will translate into a decrease in the average length of the working week measured in hours.

The new regulations are to come into force at the beginning of next year. For this to happen, the entire government must adopt them, and then the bill must be passed by the Sejm. Then it will still need the approval of the Senate and the President of the Republic of Poland.