Outstanding Leave for 2025: You Have Until 30 September 2026

Outstanding leave for 2025 must begin no later than 30 September 2026. We explain what happens after that date and how to plan your time off.

Your 2025 leave is now outstanding

The Polish Labour Code provides that an employee should use their annual leave in the calendar year in which they became entitled to it. Depending on length of service, an employee is entitled to 20 or 26 days per year.

If the full entitlement was not used by 31 December 2025, the remaining days became outstanding leave on 1 January 2026. This may happen, among other reasons, when:

the leave was postponed at the employee’s request,
the leave was postponed due to the employer’s special needs,
the employee had a justified absence (e.g. illness),
the leave was interrupted or the employee was recalled from leave.

The key deadline: 30 September 2026

Under Article 168 of the Labour Code, outstanding leave must be granted no later than 30 September of the following year. What counts is the day on which the leave begins. If you start your leave on 30 September, it may end in October.

Who sets the leave dates?

As a rule, leave dates are agreed with the employee. If the employee keeps putting it off and the statutory deadline is approaching, the employer may, as a last resort, set the leave dates unilaterally. This is the position taken by part of the Supreme Court’s case law, although legal literature also contains opposing views. It is therefore best to agree on the dates together and confirm them in writing or by email.

On-demand leave

The right to take 4 days of on-demand leave applies only within a given calendar year. It does not carry over to the next year as a separate entitlement. Unused days become regular outstanding leave, which must be used under the general rules.

Does leave expire after 30 September?

No. A claim for annual leave becomes time-barred after 3 years. For 2025 leave, this will happen on 30 September 2029. However, this does not mean you can safely wait. An employer that fails to grant outstanding leave by 30 September is in breach of the regulations.

Consequences for the employer

An employer that fails to grant an employee’s annual leave, or unjustifiably reduces its length, commits a misdemeanour punishable by a fine of PLN 2,000 to PLN 60,000. Since 8 July 2026, penalties are twice as high as before (previously: PLN 1,000 to PLN 30,000). Inspections are carried out by the National Labour Inspectorate (PIP).

Can I get paid instead of taking leave?

As a rule, no. Leave is intended for rest and cannot be “cashed out”. A cash equivalent is due only when the employment relationship ends and the employee has not managed to use their leave days.

What should you do now?

Check with the HR department how many days of outstanding 2025 leave you have left.
Agree the dates with your manager so that your leave begins no later than 30 September 2026.
Submit a leave request and keep confirmation of its approval.

Legal basis:
Articles 163–168, Article 282 § 1 point 2 and Article 291 § 1 of the Act of 26 June 1974 – Labour Code; Act of 11 March 2026 amending the Act on the National Labour Inspectorate and certain other acts (Journal of Laws 2026, item 473).