- Donald Tusk’s government has decided to add an additional long weekend in 2026, when August 15 falls on a Saturday.
- Friday, August 14 will be a public holiday for the government, and many companies may follow suit.
- Check what the Labor Code says about receiving a day off for a holiday on Saturday and whether the employee can choose the date himself.
- Find out how communication with your employer affects your ability to take additional time off and why it’s worth planning in advance.
A new long weekend in 2026? The door has been sealed
Polish regulations assume that if a public holiday falls on a Saturday, the employer is entitled to grant an additional day off. In 2026, August 15, i.e. the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Polish Army Day, falls on Saturday. Therefore, Donald Tusk’s government decided to designate another day as a day off from work. It was agreed that the previous day, Friday, August 14, would be a day off. In this way, the government provided Poles with an additional long weekend a year. There will be as many as 3 days off. In the case of most employees, the decision to grant . The Prime Minister makes the decision in the case of civil service employees. This means that the holiday on Friday, August 14 applies only to government administration. It is worth emphasizing, however, that in many workplaces the day off is the same as that for government employees.
Poles love it and like to spend it outside the city. – Recently, the approach of employees and employers to the long weekend has changed. Employers and employees appreciate rest, very often people plan in advance and ask for leave in advance when there is a long weekend. Employers are also willing to give it, because they begin to appreciate that a good employee is a well-rested employee – Izabela Kielczyk, a business psychologist, said in an interview with the Newseria Biznes news agency in 2017.
Can an employee choose the day he/she takes off for a holiday?
A common mistake is to confuse the right to a day off with the right to freely choose it. Employees often wrongly assume that they can decide on their own when to take a day off for a Saturday holiday, and this may lead to misunderstandings with the employer. It is always worth submitting your application well in advance and being prepared for the fact that the employer may have other organizational plans that will make it impossible to accommodate your preferred date. Communication and flexibility on both sides are key.
The principle of awarding results from the provisions of the Labor Code, specifically from Art. 130 § 2, which talks about reducing working hours in a given settlement period when a holiday falls on a day other than Sunday. This is to ensure that employees do not lose a day off due to the coincidence of the holiday with a day off resulting from the five-day working week. This is a mechanism aimed at protecting employee rights and ensuring equal treatment regarding days off from work.
Flexibility in taking days off, even if it formally depends on the employer, is increasingly appreciated in the modern work environment. Companies that positively consider employees’ requests for time off on Saturdays often build a better atmosphere and increase team loyalty. This approach is part of the “work-life balance” trend, where employers try to support the work-life balance of their subordinates, which in the long run translates into higher productivity and lower staff turnover.
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