What are the employer’s obligations?
At the beginning of each calendar year, but no later than January 31, the employer is required to provide written notification to each employee regarding the amount of paid annual leave they are entitled to use during the calendar year. This includes any deferred or unused leave from previous calendar years.
Where is this stated?
- Article 37a of the Ordinance on Working Time, Rest Periods, and Leaves
- Article 176a of the Labor Code
What steps should I take?
- Review the amount of paid annual leave available to each employee as of January.
- Keep in mind that paid annual leave has a statute of limitations—if it is not used within 2 years from the end of the year in which the reason for not using it ceased to exist, the leave can no longer be claimed, even if unused!
- Prepare a notification for each employee specifying the amount of paid annual leave they are entitled to for the current and previous calendar years (if there are unused days). Example: Ivan is entitled to 20 days of paid leave for 2025, but he also has 20 unused days from 2024 and 5 from 2023. As of January 1, 2025, Ivan will have a total of 45 days of leave, which he can use until December 31, 2025..
- The notification should be prepared in two copies—one for the employer and one for the employee.
- The employee must acknowledge receipt of the notification by signing and dating it on the day it is provided.
- The employer’s copy should be filed in the employee’s personal employment record.
Do you have a template?
Of course but we recommend consulting a payroll specialist to assist you with the calculation of leave days and preparation of the document!