Annual leave: 20 or 26 days — how to work out what you are entitled to
Your leave depends on length of service, schooling and working hours. How leave works in a first job, when changing employer and in temporary work.
With an employment contract you are entitled to paid annual leave (urlop wypoczynkowy): 20 or 26 days a year. What it depends on, how schooling counts and what happens when you change jobs during the year — explained step by step. You cannot waive this right (Art. 152 § 2 of the Labour Code).
20 or 26 days — length of service decides
The leave entitlement is (Art. 154 § 1):
- 20 days — if your total length of service is less than 10 years,
- 26 days — if your length of service is at least 10 years.
Your entire length of service counts, not only with your current employer. Previous employment is included, regardless of breaks and of how earlier contracts ended (Art. 154¹). Since 2026, length of service also includes, among other things, documented periods of civil-law contracts (umowa zlecenia) and running your own business for which contributions were paid, as well as documented gainful work abroad on a basis other than an employment contract (Art. 302¹).
One day of leave equals 8 hours. You use leave on days that are working days for you according to your schedule, for the number of hours you would have worked on that day (Art. 154²).
Schooling counts too
A completed school adds a set number of years to your length of service for leave purposes (Art. 155 § 1):
| Completed school | Years counted |
|---|---|
| basic vocational school (zasadnicza szkoła zawodowa) | length of the programme, up to 3 years |
| secondary vocational school (średnia szkoła zawodowa) | length of the programme, up to 5 years |
| general secondary school (liceum) | 4 years |
| post-secondary school (szkoła policealna) | 6 years |
| higher education (studies) | 8 years |
Periods of education are not added together — only one, the most favourable school, counts. If you studied and worked at the same time, either the period of study or the period of work is counted — whichever is more favourable to you (Art. 155 § 2).
Example: you graduated from university (8 years) and have worked for 2 years. You have 10 years of service, so you are entitled to 26 days of leave.
Part-time work, first job, changing employer
- Part-time work — leave is proportional to your working time, and a partial day is rounded up (Art. 154 § 2). On half-time with an entitlement to 26 days, you get 13 days.
- Your first job ever — in the first year you earn leave in arrears: 1/12 of the annual entitlement after each month worked. From the next calendar year you get full leave for the whole year (Art. 153).
- Changing employer during the year — with your previous employer you are entitled to leave proportional to the period worked that year, and with the new one — proportional to the period until the end of the year (if the contract lasts at least until the end of the year). Each started month counts as a full month, and a partial day of leave is rounded up (Art. 155¹, 155²ᵃ, 155³).
Example: you are entitled to 20 days, you leave the company on 30 June and on 1 July you start an open-ended job. With the old employer you are entitled to 10 days (6/12), with the new one — 10 days.
Unused leave and temporary work
- If your contract ends and you have not used your leave, you receive a cash equivalent (ekwiwalent pieniężny) — on the pay date (Art. 171 § 1 and § 4). The employer may also grant you leave during the notice period — you must then use it (Art. 167¹).
- Leave not used in a given year must be granted to you by 30 September of the following year at the latest (Art. 168).
- A temporary worker (employed by a temporary work agency) is entitled to 2 days of leave for each month of work for the user employer. If the leave is not used during the temporary work, the agency pays a cash equivalent (Art. 17 of the Act on the employment of temporary workers).
What this means for you
If you are an employee:
- Bring your diploma or school-leaving certificate and the employment certificates (świadectwa pracy) from previous employers to the HR department — without documents the employer will not count those years.
- Have you worked on civil-law contracts, run a business or worked abroad without an employment contract? Document these periods — they may bring you to 26 days sooner.
- When changing jobs, check in your employment certificate how many days of leave you have used — this affects your leave with the new employer.
If you are an employer:
- Determine the leave entitlement based on documents: employment certificates, diplomas and certificates of other periods counted towards length of service.
- Watch for the day an employee reaches 10 years of service — from that day they are entitled to 26 days.
- Failing to grant leave or reducing it without grounds is punishable by a fine of PLN 2,000 to PLN 60,000 (Art. 282 § 1 point 2).
Legal basis: Act of 26 June 1974 — Labour Code (Kodeks pracy, consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 poz. 1245), Art. 152, 153, 154, 154¹, 154², 155, 155¹, 155²ᵃ, 155³, 167¹, 168, 171, 282 § 1 point 2, 302¹; Act of 9 July 2003 on the employment of temporary workers (consolidated text Dz.U. 2025 poz. 236), Art. 17. Legal status as of 1 October 2026.