Guide to leaves in Poland - disability p. 2
Among employees there is a group that is entitled to additional annual leave. The said group includes people with a severe or moderate degree of disability. Pursuant to Art. 19 of the Act on professional and social rehabilitation of disabled persons (Polish Journal of Laws, 2024.44, consolidated text)
“A person classified for severe or moderate degree of disability shall be entitled to an additional holiday leave of 10 working days in the calendar year. The person in question shall acquire the right to their first leave after working for the period of one year after being classified for one of the above-mentioned degrees of disability”
Influence on leave restrictions
Taking additional leave into consideration, the employee will be entitled to:
- 30 days of annual leave – in case of less than 10 years of service;
- 36 days of annual leave – in case of at least 10 years of service.
The said leave shall not apply when the entitled person has more than 26 days of leave under separate regulations.
An incomplete year of disability
Additional year is granted under the same rules as in the case of holiday leave. It means that in the case of part-time employees, the additional leave is calculated proportionately to their work time basis. The unused additional leave in a particular calendar year will be transferred to the next year. It must be used by the end of September in the next year. The employee is entitled to a payment in lieu of unused leave in case of termination of the employment relationship.
If the moderate or severe disability no longer exists or the disability is qualified as mild during the calendar year, the employee will not lose their entitlement to additional leave they acquired before the loss of the status or before the change of the degree of disability.
When 21 instead of 10
Persons with severe or moderate degree of disability are also entitled to a leave of 21 working days with preserved right to remuneration in order to participate in a rehabilitation stay. However, this entitlement can be used only once a year. It does not add to the employee’s additional leave. The total number of days of additional holiday leave and special leave for people with severe or moderate disability must not exceed 21 working days in the specific calendar year. It means that when the employee participates in a rehabilitation stay for which they used 21 days of leave, he or she will still be able only to use the standard leave provided for by the Polish Labor Code. The additional leave of 10 days will not apply.
Other absence
Persons with severe or moderate disability may also utilize a special leave in order to undergo specialist medical examinations, a healing or therapeutic treatment, as well as in order to obtain orthopedic supplies or repairs thereof, if such actions cannot be carried out outside the working hours. The employer must not demand that the employee will instead use the holiday leave they are entitled. The time of leave depends on the duration of examinations and treatments. Regulations do not provide for detailed rules as to granting such leaves, that is why the said obligation is imposed on the employer. The employer may ask the employee to provide evidence for the need for leave on a particular day or within specific hours.
Author: Patrycja Szewczuk HR and Payroll Specialist at the MDDP Outsourcing office in Warsaw
Sources:
https://www.prawo.pl/kadry/urlop-dodatkowy-pracownika-niepelnosprawnego,517471.html
http://www.vademecumkadrowego.pl/artykul_narzedziowa,1326,0,22403,dodatkowe-urlopy-wypoczynkowe.html
https://niepelnosprawni.gov.pl/index.php?c=article&id=5&print=1
