In today’s newsletter we would like to advise you of important changes in the entitlement and use of the annual leave valid from 1 January 2021. The main change which is about to occur next year consists of a change from the leave entitlement being in days to the leave entitlement being in hours.
First, let’s recap the basic information we already know
Leave calculation:
(Section 212 of the Labour Code, Section 213 of the Labour Code)
- In the field of wages, the annual leave entitlement is four weeks as a minimum (it can be increased by weeks or days)
- In the field of salaries (government institutions), the annual leave entitlement is five weeks (the employer is not allowed to increase the leave)
- The annual entitlement to teachers’ leave is eight weeks
- Additional leave – Section 215 of the Labour Code (not to be confused with an increase in the basic leave calculation)
Taking leave from 2020, even if it occurs in 2021, is governed by the original legislation.
Overview of basic changes
*) Example:
An employee has worked for his/her employer for the entire calendar year. The employee is entitled to five weeks of annual leave and the employee’s weekly workload is 40 hours. His/her entitlement to annual leave in 2021 is:
5 x 40 = 200 hours of annual leave
If the employee’s weekly workload is 30 hours per week, then his/her entitlement to annual leave is 150 hours (5 x 30)
**) Example:
An employee has worked for his/her employer for 20 weeks. The employee is entitled to five weeks of annual leave and the employee’s weekly workload is 40 hours. His/her entitlement to annual leave in 2021 is:
40 x 5 : 52 x 20 = 76.9 = 77 hours of annual leave
Other information:
- An employee may request leave on a public holiday when working in continuous operation, when doing stocktaking, when working in transport, when working in feeding animals … (Section 91, paragraph 3 of the Labour Code)
- The employer is not allowed to order an employee to take leave on a public holiday
- The employer may determine leave with the minimum length of one work shift (any shorter length is only acceptable in the event of taking the balance of the leave). The employer may only determine leave with the length of half a shift subject to the employee´s consent.
- An employee may apply for leave of at least 0.5 of a shift
- From 2021, an employee will be entitled to annual leave even if he/she does not complete three entire calendar months of work, even though he/she has worked 60 days in a year (say he/she starts working on 8 March and terminates his/her employment on 20 June) Hitherto, he/she has only been entitled to 2/12 = 3.5 days. From 2021 it will be 58 hours. With a 40-hour shift and the 20 days of annual leave entitlement.
- Further to a written application filed by an employee, a part of the leave over four weeks can be carried over to the following year (with teaching staff it can be over six weeks). This leave must be taken by the end of the following year at the latest. It still applies that the employer is obliged to determine the employee’s taking his/her annual leave in a given year. If this is prevented by reasons listed by law and the leave is carried over to the next year, the employer is obliged to determine this leave being taken by 30 June of the next year. In the event of the employer failing to do so, the employee him-/herself will determine his/her leave being taken by the end of the year. The rule of notifying the taking of leave two weeks in advance still applies.
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