The Polish government is planning new names and commemorations for May 2 and August 15, though officials confirm these calendar updates will not automatically grant workers additional days off. <\/p>\n
Poland’s holiday calendar may change as the government plans new names and additional commemorations of important historical events. However, there is one detail that may disappoint employees: new holidays do not automatically mean an additional day off.<\/p>\n
One of the Ministry of Culture’s proposals concerns the Flag Day of the Republic of Poland celebrated on May 2. The ministry plans to change the official name of this day to the “White Eagle and Flag Day.” As the ministry points out, the purpose of the changes is to stronger emphasize the role of the Polish coat of arms and the significance of national symbols. The White Eagle has been one of the most important state signs for centuries, and its presence in the holiday’s name is meant to further highlight its rank. For employees, the most important information remains that the name change does not mean the establishment of a new day off work. May 2 will still remain a working day.<\/p>\n
Flag Day falls between two statutory non-working days\u2014May 1 and May 3. Despite the planned name change, May 2 will remain a working day. However, good news for many employees will appear in 2027. At that time, May 1 will fall on a Saturday, which will mean the employer’s obligation to designate another day off.<\/p>\n
The next proposal concerns August 15. On this day, the Polish Armed Forces Day is already celebrated, established to commemorate the victory over Bolshevik Russia in the Battle of Warsaw in 1920. The Ministry of Culture additionally plans to establish the “Battle of Warsaw Day.” This is to be a way to even more clearly commemorate the events of 1920 and emphasize the role of the Polish Armed Forces. Many Poles display flags on August 15, but this does not stem from a statutory obligation. According to “Rzeczpospolita,” the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage explained that the Polish Armed Forces Day is not in the catalog of state holidays with which regulations associate the obligation to display flags.<\/p>\n
The planned establishment of the Battle of Warsaw Day, however, does not mean that Poles will gain another day off work. August 15 is already a statutory non-working day. On this day, both the Polish Armed Forces Day and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary are celebrated. The day off, however, stems from the regulations concerning the latter holiday. This year, this holiday falls on a Saturday.<\/p>\n
Proposals regarding name changes and the establishment of new commemorations are not the first changes to the calendar of state holidays. In recent years, the legislature has established subsequent days commemorating important historical events and figures. In 2026, April 12 was added to the list of state holidays as War Invalide Day. Previously established dates include: February 14\u2014National Day of Remembrance of the Home Army Soldiers (2025), July 11\u2014National Day of Remembrance of Poles – Victims of the Genocide Committed by the OUN and UPA (2025), September 10\u2014National Day of Polish Child Victims of War (2023), June 20\u2014National Day of the Silesian Uprisings (2022). However, the mere establishment of a state holiday does not automatically mean that employees receive an additional day off. Non-working days are determined by a separate act.<\/p>\n
According to the Act of January 18, 1951, on non-working days, non-working days are Sundays and holidays indicated in the regulations. The mere establishment of a state or national holiday does not automatically mean that employees receive an additional day off. It is necessary for a given date to be included in the statutory list. Currently, statutory non-working days are:<\/p>\n
Let us recall that in 2026, the Polish Armed Forces Day and the Assumption of ordained Mary will fall on a Saturday. For many employees, this means the necessity for the employer to designate another day off. This is not additional leave nor a voluntary privilege\u2014it results from working time rules.<\/p>\n
If Saturday is a non-working day for an employee resulting from an average five-day working week, the employer must reduce the working time dimension and indicate another day off. This rule applies to persons employed on the basis of an employment contract, both in the public and private sectors. In government administration, the deadline has already been designated. Members of the civil service corps will have a day off on Friday, August 14, 2026, thanks to which they will gain a three-day weekend from August 14 to 16.<\/p>\n
Copyright-protected material – all rights reserved.<\/p>\n
Further dissemination of the article with the publisher’s consent INFOR PL S.A. Buy a license.<\/p>\n
Enter the e-mail address of the selected person, and we will send them free access to this article<\/p>\n
Related<\/p>\n
Most important<\/p>\n
Most important<\/p>\n
News<\/p>\n
Country<\/p>\n
World<\/p>\n
VIDEO<\/p>\n
OPINIONS<\/p>\n
WEEKEND MAGAZINE<\/p>\n
Copyright \u00a9 INFOR PL S.A.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Polish government is planning new names and commemorations for May 2 and August 15, though officials confirm these calendar updates will not automatically grant workers additional days off. New Holidays in the Calendar? Government Plans Changes. It Concerns May 2 and August 15 Poland’s holiday calendar may change as the government plans new names […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18831\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bizonews.com\/pl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}