Paid annual leave in Poland: 20 or 26 days and leave on demand
Short answer: Employees in Poland get 20 working days of paid leave a year, rising to 26 days after 10 years of total employment.
If you start a job in Poland on an employment contract (umowa o pracę), paid holiday is a legal right, not a perk your employer can choose to give. The rules sit in the Labour Code and are explained by the Ministry of Family and by the National Labour Inspectorate (PIP). This guide covers how many days you get, how they build up in your first year, what "leave on demand" means, and what happens to unused days. Figures are as published by gov.pl and PIP on 13 October 2026.
How many days you get
The Labour Code sets two levels of annual leave for a full-time employee:
- 20 working days if your total employment period is shorter than 10 years.
- 26 working days if it is 10 years or more.
Part-time workers get leave in proportion to their working time. gov.pl gives the example of a half-time job, which means 10 or 13 days. Your employer counts leave in days that would have been working days for you, and one day of leave equals 8 hours of work in a standard schedule, so 20 days is 160 hours and 26 days is 208 hours.
What counts towards the 10 years
The 10-year threshold is not limited to your current job. Earlier periods of employment count, regardless of gaps between jobs and regardless of how the previous job ended. Time spent in school also counts, up to a limit, and the periods of study are not added together:
- vocational school: the length of the programme, up to 3 years
- secondary vocational school: up to 5 years
- general secondary school: 4 years
- post-secondary school: 6 years
- university: 8 years
If you worked abroad, ask your employer how they document it. The rules count employment periods, so keep contracts or employer letters from earlier jobs.
Your first year
If this is your first job ever, you earn leave month by month. After each month of work you have the right to 1/12 of 20 days, which is about 1.66 days. If you change employers during a calendar year, your leave at the new employer is proportional to the time you work there, and a part-month is rounded up to a full month. A part-day of leave is rounded up to a full day.
From the next calendar year onward you earn the full entitlement up front, on 1 January.
Leave on demand
You can take up to 4 days a year as "leave on demand" (urlop na żądanie). You ask for it, and your employer is expected to grant it. These 4 days are part of your normal leave, not extra days. PIP notes that the holiday plan covers your whole annual leave except those 4 days, so a person with 20 days plans 16 and a person with 26 days plans 22.
Planning and splitting leave
Your employer sets a leave plan, taking your requests and the needs of the business into account. Without a plan, you agree dates with your employer. On your request, leave can be split, but one part must be at least 14 consecutive calendar days. PIP stresses that the purpose of leave is to recover, so very short pieces do not meet the intent of the law.
Unused leave
Your employer must give you leave in the year you earned it. If you did not use it, it can be taken until 30 September of the next year. The claim for leave becomes time-barred after 3 years, counted from 30 September of the year after you earned it.
If your job ends and you still have unused days, you are paid a cash equivalent. This applies only when the days were not used because the employment ended. Your employer pays it on the normal payday, or within 10 days of the end of employment if payday falls before that.
When your employer can change or cancel leave
The employer must move your leave if you fall ill, are placed in isolation for an infectious disease, are called up for military exercises, or begin maternity, parental or paternity leave. Illness during leave interrupts it. The employer may also move leave for pressing business needs, and may recall you only for circumstances that were not foreseeable when the leave started, in which case the employer pays the costs caused by the recall.
How leave is paid
Leave is paid. You get the pay you would have received if you were working. Fixed pay components are taken at the level for the month you are on leave, and variable ones at the average of the previous 3 months, which can stretch to 12 months if pay varies a lot.
Other leave worth knowing
Care leave (urlop opiekuńczy) gives up to 5 days a year, unpaid, to care for a family member or a person in your household who needs support for serious medical reasons. You apply on paper or electronically at least one day before. Unpaid leave is also possible by agreement, but it generally does not count towards periods that give employment rights.
Contractors and B2B
Paid leave under the Labour Code applies to employees. If you work on a civil-law contract (umowa zlecenie or B2B), the Labour Code leave rules do not apply and any rest days depend on your contract. Check which type of contract you have before you assume you have 20 or 26 days.
Frequently asked questions
How many days of holiday do I get in Poland?
20 working days a year if you have worked for less than 10 years in total, and 26 days from 10 years. Part-time work gives proportionally less.
Can my employer refuse leave on demand?
The rules say your employer should grant up to 4 days a year on your request. These days come out of your normal annual leave.
Does leave expire?
Unused leave can be taken until 30 September of the following year. The legal claim becomes time-barred after 3 years.
Do I get paid for unused leave when I quit?
Yes. When employment ends and you did not use your leave, you are owed a cash equivalent, paid by the employer.
Do contractors get paid holiday?
Not under the Labour Code. It covers employees, so for B2B or civil-law contracts it depends on what the contract says.
