A petition filed in early 2025 proposed allowing employees to use portions of their annual leave in hourly increments, but the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy has officially rejected the idea.
The Case for Hourly Flexibility
Every office worker knows the struggle of needing two hours for a medical appointment or a bank errand, only to be forced to take an entire day of paid leave. One petitioner proposed a simple solution: allow workers to use their annual leave by the hour rather than by the day to handle routine personal matters.
Legal Precedents and Arguments
The petition, submitted to the ministry on February 23, 2025, argued that current labor law already permits hourly leave for childcare and force majeure. Proponents suggest that applying this same mechanism to standard annual leave would not increase total time off but would instead provide much-needed flexibility for modern life, leaving more full days for genuine rest.
The Ministry’s Stance on Reform
The Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy responded by emphasizing that annual leave is constitutionally protected and designed primarily for full-day regeneration. Officials argue that “fragmenting” leave could undermine health and safety regulations, and they pointed out that current Polish and European Union standards mandate leave be taken in full working days.
Current Limitations of the Labor Code
Under existing regulations, leave is calculated in hours, but in practice, employees must take a full workday’s worth of hours at once. The only technical exception is when an employee’s remaining leave balance is less than their standard daily working hours. As of May 2026, the government has no active plans to amend the Labor Code to facilitate hourly leave, meaning the current rigid system remains in place.