Public Holidays in Poland (updated 2020)

There are 13 official days off in Poland. But the list of days off is much longer. As there are many exceptions in the labour law as well as employees expectations. In this article, we explain the intricacies of public holidays in Poland giving you employees' perspective.

Purple sunset over Warsaw Bridge, Warsaw, Poland

Plane Team

Published on August 20, 2020

This article is part of a guide about hiring employees in Poland. We provide all the details about Polish work laws, obligations, benefits, and the cultural ins and outs you should know in 2020. Learn about typical holiday expectations from Polish employees in preparation for hiring in Poland.So far we have covered;📄 Employments Contracts in Poland🔜 The next article will describe working hours, paid time off, and benefits in PolandIn Poland, Sundays and public holidays are days free from work. Public holidays are non-working days for everybody who is on an employment contract.During those days, shops and public offices are closed, public transport runs on a limited schedule, and people typically use this time to spend with friends, family, and/or for excursions outside of the city. There is a social expectation to have those days off also for people on other types of contracts. Officially there are 13 public holidays in Poland. But there are 2 days that are half-days that are considered off, and we advise treating them also as public holidays. Please see below for more details.

List of official public holidays in Poland 🇵🇱

1. New Year’s Day (January 1)2. Epiphany (January 6) 3. Easter Sunday (movable)4. Easter Monday (movable)5. Labour Day (May 1)6. Constitution Day (May 3)7. Pentecost Sunday (movable)8. Corpus Christi (movable)9. Assumption Day (August 15)10. All Saints’ Day (November 1)11. Independence Day (November 11)12. Christmas Eve (December 24) ⬇️ see description below13. Christmas Day (December 25)14. Boxing Day (December 26)15. New Year’s Eve (December 31) ⬇️ see description below

Important 🚨

When a public holiday falls on a Saturday, an employer is obliged by the provisions of the Labour Code to give the day off back to the employee on another occasion till the end of the settlement period.When a public holiday falls on a Sunday, an employer is not obliged to grant the day off, as the Labour Code treats Sundays like a holiday.

Additional 2 days off 🧚

Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve

Even though those two days are not officially public holidays by law, all offices, shops, museums, cafeterias, etc. are open only until 2-4 pm and public transport is on a holiday schedule. Each year, more businesses give their employees this day off or let their employees finish their work earlier at 2 pm.

Christmas Eve

In Polish tradition, Christmas Eve, on December 24th, is the most important celebration during the holiday season, and the majority of families start their family gathering and supper at 4 pm.

Long weekend 📆

Be aware that when a public holiday falls on a Thursday, there is an excellent chance that your employees will take Friday off to have a long weekend.

May Long Weekend

May 1st and May 3rd are officially non-working days. There is a high chance that employees will take May 2nd off to have a long weekend.As employee you have to be aware that long weekends can happen quite often.

Legal Disclaimer:

The information contained in this site is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter.

Hiring in Poland 🇵🇱

If you’d like to hire somebody from Poland (or any other country), we can help. Request a demo with one of our experts.

Going global isn't daunting when you partner with Pilot. 🤝

Book a FREE, no-obligation demo with one of our experts now.

Schedule a demo

From startups to large corporations, US companies of all sizes use Pilot for international payroll, benefits and compliance.

A globe with purple gradient borders around it. A bubble pointing to the globe says, "+86 currencies." In the right-hand side is a list of sample supported currencies: KRW, SAR, TWD, HKD, SGD, QAR, AED, KWD, and ...

Plane now supports 100+ currencies

We added 86 new currencies to our platform, which means you can choose from 138 currencies to pay contractors & vendors.

Unified Payroll hero image with blocks that say "Unified Payroll," "US Payroll," "EOR," "Global Contractors," and "HRIS"

Unified Payroll is fully launched!

New customers now have access to Unified Payroll, as well as new HRIS features, onboarding enhancements, and vendor management.

Checklist: How to Evaluate a Potential Payroll Provider

It's important to do your due diligence when determining whether a payroll provider is right for you.

All articles