The ability to have some time off especially when one is sick is very important; equally important is when such time off will not come with financial consequence. Generally, the length of paid annual leave in Poland depends on the employee’s seniority and contract with employee. The employee will acquire the right to 20 or 26 days of paid annual leave depending on their working experience:
Employees who have worked fewer than 10 years are entitled to 20 days of annual leave.
Employees who have worked 10 years or more are entitled to 26 days of annual leave.
Depending on the type of employment contract, you will be entitled to certain type of leaves or days paid by your employer or the government which include the following but not limited to:
Sick Days
All employees are entitled to paid sick leave subject to the working experience and the employee’s age, as specified in the employment contract.
Employees under fifty years old are entitled to up to 33 days of paid sick leave, paid by the employer. Should the sick leave continue past day 33, Social Security (ZUS) will take on the payments from day 34 onwards. Whereas those who are fifty years are entitled to up to 14 days of paid sick leave, paid by the employer. They also have the benefit of ZUS taking over should there be the need for extension.
Sick leave is paid by the employer at a rate of 80.00% of the average salary in the past 12 months or at 100.00% if the illness occurs during pregnancy or is caused by an accident on the way to or from work. Sick leave caused by an accident at work or due to the employee’s sick child/sick relative is also paid for by Social Security (ZUS).
Disability Leave:
A person classified as having a severe or moderate degree of disability is entitled to an additional ten days of annual leave. After working one year and after being classified in one of the degrees of disability stated by the rules, the person acquires the right.
Childcare Leave:
An employee raising at least one child aged up to 14 years is entitled to two paid days off a year, covered in full by the employer. Additionally, employees who have worked for at least six months are entitled to a further three years of unpaid childcare leave until the child is five years old (18-years-old if the child is disabled).
Maternity and Paternity Leave
Female employees are entitled to maternity leave periods linked to the number of children born/adopted as follows:
20 weeks for the birth of one child/adoption of one child, 31 weeks for two children, 33 weeks for three children, 35 weeks for four children or 37 weeks for five or more children
The Social Security Institute covers all maternity pay at 100% of the employee’s regular salary rate. Maternity leave cannot start earlier than six weeks before the due date but can start later or even after birth and continue straight after. Employees should take a minimum of 14 weeks of maternity leave after childbirth before returning to work, and they have the option to transfer any untaken leave beyond 14 weeks to the child’s father.
Fathers are entitled to two weeks of paid paternity leave within the first 24 months after the child’s birth or from the date of adoption before the child is seven years old. An employee can take the leave in a maximum of two installments of one week each, and Social Security pays the leave at a rate of 100.00% of the employee’s regular salary.
Adoption leave may be used by both the adoptive father and the adoptive mother. However, under the labor code, the leave can’t be taken simultaneously by both parents.
Parental Leave
In Poland, the parental leave period spans either 41 or 43 weeks. The duration of parental leave hinges on the number of children born or adopted at once, and it’s available to both male and female employees as well as adoptive parents upon the completion of maternity leave.
Parents have the flexibility to divide this leave according to their preferences, but each parent has an exclusive right to a 9-week portion. For instance, if the child’s mother opts to utilize the entire parental leave, she can claim a maximum of 32 weeks, leaving the remaining 9 weeks exclusively for the other parent. It’s important to note that regulations do not permit the transfer of the extra 9 weeks to the other parent, such as in cases of single parents raising children.
Parents also have the option to take parental leave concurrently, meaning both parents can be on leave at the same time, provided that the total leave taken doesn’t exceed the standard entitlement. Additionally, parental leave can be split into a maximum of 5 parts and must be utilized by the end of the calendar year in which the child reaches the age of 6.
Health Related Leave of Absence in Poland - 2024
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