Employers are often confronted with the fact that the leave due for a given year has not been fully used by the employee. The question then arises as to whether the unused leave can be “carried forward” to the following year, ie whether it is possible for the employee to take part of his leave in the following year or possibly redeem it in cash.

Under the Labor Code, leave must be granted by the employer in the year in which it is due. This means that leave cannot be collected and that it is not possible to take several years’ leave and stop working for several months at the same time.

However, there are exceptions when it is possible to carry over untaken leave to the following year. These are the following:

  • Leave shall be deemed to have been granted in the year due if its use begins in the year due and the part of the leave granted in the following year does not exceed 5 working days.
  • If the leave began on or after 1 October, the employer may grant the leave until 31 March of the year following the due date.
  • According to a written agreement between the employer and the employee, additional leave after age (1-10 working days) can be granted until the end of the following year. It is important that this requires the prior and written agreement of the parties.
  • In the case of an exceptionally important economic interest or a reason directly and seriously affecting its operation, the employer may change the date of the leave, interrupt the employee’s leave, or, in the case of a collective agreement, issue a quarter by 31 March of the year following the due date.
  • If the leave cannot be granted in a given year due to a reason on the part of the employee, the employer must take it within 60 days of the end of the reason.

There may, of course, be a case where the above exceptions do not apply but the worker still has unused leave. The question then arises as to the monetary redemption of freedom. Redemption of leave in cash is possible only if the employment relationship has been terminated and the employer has not granted proportional leave. So, if the employee has retained his leave but his employment has not been terminated, there is no possibility for the employer to give money instead of the leave.

Based on the above, the question of what an employee can do if he or she has not received all his or her leave on time and cannot redeem it in money is legitimate. Leave must be granted by the employer – as this is his responsibility – so if it can no longer be done in compliance with the law, he must still give the employee the freedom he is entitled to.