There are 14 statutory holidays in 2026, eight of which fall on weekdays and the remaining six on weekends. For those falling on Saturday, employees are entitled to an additional day off. We published the full list of holidays and extended weekend opportunities in a separate table.
The basic amount of annual leave is: 20 days for employees with less than 10 years of experience and 26 days — for employees with at least 10 years of experience.
An important change is that from this year, the length of service includes not only periods of employment under an employment contract, but alsoorders, running a business or periods of its suspension. Changes in the calculation of seniority are effective from January 1, 2026 in the public finance sectorand from On May 1, 2026, they will also apply to other employers. For some employees who apply for correction of their length of service, this means extending their right to leave to 26 days.
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When can you take special leave and when care leave?
Each full-time employee is entitled to paid special leave:
- two days – among others for your own wedding, birth of a child, death and funeral of a spouse, child, parents, stepfather or stepmother,
- one day – among others for a child's wedding or funeral of siblings, parents-in-law, grandparents or a person dependent on the employee or under his or her direct care.
The employee also has the right to five days of care leave per year, intended for personal care of a family member (child, parent, wife or husband) or a person living together, for serious medical reasons. This is the holiday free and does not involve the right to benefit from ZUS.
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Additional leave days for employees with disabilities
Employees with a certificate of o moderate or severe disability have the right to 10 additional working days of annual leave. This means in total 30 or 36 days of vacationdepending on the length of service.
The right to the first additional leave is acquired after working for a yearcounting from the date of obtaining the degree of disability.
If an employee is entitled to additional leave under other regulations (e.g. as a uniformed service officer or teacher), these leaves do not add up. In such a situation, you are entitled to one additional leave – in a more favorable amount.
People with moderate or severe disabilities may also benefit leave from work with retained pay for up to 21 days annually on specialist tests or rehabilitation stay. The 21-day limit is common to additional leave and rehabilitation leave. This means that the sum of these two entitlements cannot exceed 21 days a year.
Other persons who are entitled to additional leave
Honorary blood donors
For each donation of blood or its components, you are entitled to: two days off while retaining the right to remuneration — the day of donating blood and the next day. When donating whole blood, this can be a maximum of:
- up to 12 days off per year for men,
- up to 8 days off per year for women.
People who donate can get even more days off plasma or plateletswhich can be donated much more often. The actual number of donations – and therefore days off – depends on the donor's health condition and the decision of the doctor at the blood donation station.
Parents of children up to 14 years of age
Parents of children up to 14 years of age are eligible two days or 16 hours of paid time off per year for childcare and up to 60 days of care allowance per year in the event of a child's illness (80% of remuneration),
Parents of premature babies and hospitalized children
Effective from March 19, 2025 supplementary maternity leave for parents of premature babies and children requiring long-term hospitalization after delivery:
- up to 15 weeks — at the birth of a child before the 28th week of pregnancy or weighing up to 1000 g,
- up to 8 weeks — at birth between the 28th and 37th week of pregnancy,
- up to 8 weeks — when a full-term baby required hospitalization after birth.
It's vacation time fully paidgranted once and is entitled to the child's mother or father after the end of basic maternity leave.
Additional days off in public services
Civil servants
Pursuant to Order No. 2 of the Prime Minister of January 5, 2026, members of the Civil Service Corps received 2 additional days off in 2026: August 14 (for August 15 on Saturday) and December 28 (for December 26 on Saturday). Other employees are also entitled to a day off for a holiday on Saturday, but the date is set by the employer.
Uniformed services officers
Police officers, professional soldiers, State Fire Service firefighters, Border Guard and Prison Service officers are entitled to additional leave due to their length of service.
Additional vacation days for length of service in individual formations
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Zuzanna Staszewska-Jedynasty / Own work/AI
In case Prison Service the thresholds are lower – 5 days after 10 years, 9 days after 15 years and 13 days after 20 years of service.
In addition to leave depending on seniority, some officers may also take advantage of: additional leave due to ageamong others in the Police, State Fire Service and Border Guard. In some services, officers are also entitled to: additional days off for performing service in harmful or particularly onerous conditions.
In the event of overlapping rights to additional leave for various reasons, the employee is entitled to one additional leave in the most favorable amount. They are an exception professional soldiersin the case of which leave is due to work in harmful conditions it adds up with other additional leaves – provided that the total amount of leave does not exceed 50 working days in a calendar year.
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How many days off are teachers entitled to?
In the education sector, the amount of leave is closely related to the nature of the institution where the teacher works:
- Holiday facilities (schools): Teachers take leave during winter and summer breaks. However, the director has the right to engage them in statutory work (e.g. teaching councils, exams) for up to 7 days.
- Non-feral facilities (kindergartens, clinics, centers): Teachers are entitled to 35 working days of leavewhich they use in accordance with the agreed leave plan, regardless of breaks in school studies.
This is a separate entitlement leave to improve health — up to one year, fully paid, available to teachers employed for an indefinite period, full-time and with at least seven years of work experience. In total, he cannot exceed three years in his entire career.
Please remember that most additional days off are conditional – their granting depends on current decisions, length of service or the specific nature of a given facility. The beginning of January is the perfect time to verify that the documentation is up to date and plan your holiday calendar for 2026 well in advance.
