Dismissal of an employee from vacation - does the employer have the right to do so?

One of the basic privileges of employees working under a contract of employment is annual leave. Its length depends on the length of service of a given person and may be 20 working days (for less than 10 years of seniority) or 26 days (for people with 10 years of seniority or more). It turns out, however, that the time of rest specified in the vacation plan (or in some other form) is not given to the employee once and for all, because it is possible to dismiss the employee from the vacation.

The right to change the date of the employee's holiday leave

The employer's rights include, first of all, postponing the leave date of a given employee. This is due to Art. 164 par. 2 of the Labor Code.

Art. 164 par. 2 of the Labor Code The leave date may also be postponed due to the special needs of the employer, if the employee's absence would cause serious disruptions in the workflow.

As you can see, such postponement of the leave date is allowed in strictly defined situations.

It should also be noted here that the employer is obliged to postpone the vacation leave of an employee who, for various reasons (such as illness or maternity leave), cannot start the planned leave.

When is it possible to recall an employee from vacation?

The rights of the employer also include dismissal of the employee from vacation - this means that the employee's vacation may be interrupted. However, the labor law states that this can only happen when the presence of an employee in the company is necessary due to circumstances that could not have been foreseen earlier.

Dismissal of an employee from vacation and costs

Canceling an employee from vacation, of course, involves many additional costs - related to, for example, rebooking airline tickets or canceling previously booked accommodation. An employer who decides to interrupt his employee's vacation should remember that he will be obliged to reimburse the employed person for the costs incurred in connection with the dismissal of the employee from the vacation.

However, it is the employee's responsibility to take care of proper documentation - i.e. to keep bills or invoices that will certify the costs of such a sudden return.