One of the areas significantly affected by the amendment to the Labour Code is holiday accounting. Changes in holiday accounting will take effect on 1 January 2021. However, every employer must prepare for the upcoming news in advance - it will be necessary, among other things, to update the wage systems and adjust the holiday calculations.

What will be different from the new year?

New holiday counting concept:

• The amount of entitlement to leave is derived from the weekly hours worked (i.e. set weekly working hours or agreed shorter weekly working hours) - the amount of holiday in hours instead of days.
• Entitlement to holiday per calendar year for an employee who is employed with the same employer and performed work for 52 weeks in the relevant calendar year is set within the set or agreed shorter weekly working hours.
• The length of leave is determined as the length of set or agreed shorter weekly working hours multiplied by the amount of leave - e.g.:
• 40 (weekly working hours) x 5 (amount of leave in weeks) = 200 hours;
• 30 (agreed shorter working hours) x 5 (amount of leave in weeks) = 150 hours.

Change of leave when changing weekly working hours

• The length of leave will also change proportionally. E.g. if from 1 January 2021 to 31 May 2021 the employee has a shorter weekly working time of 30 hours and from 1 June 2021 to 31 December 2021 a specified weekly working time of 40 hours and a holiday of 5 weeks:
• Period from 1 January 2021 to 31 May 2021: 30 (weekly working hours) / 52 (working weeks per year) = 0.576 x 22 (number of working weeks worked with the given weekly working hours) = 12.672 x 5 (number of vacation weeks) = 63.36;
• Period from 1 June 2021 - 31 December 2021: 40 (weekly working hours) / 52 (working weeks per year) = 0.769 x 30 (number of working weeks worked with the given weekly working hours) = 23.07 x 5 (number of vacation weeks) = 115.35;
• The total of 2021 holiday hours per year: 63.36 + 115.35 = 178.71 (rounded up to 179 hours).

Proportional part of the holiday

• If 52 working weeks are not worked with one employer, there is no entitlement to leave for a calendar year, but entitlement to a proportional part holiday. For each weekly period worked, 1/52 of the weekly working time multiplied by the amount of leave due. If the employee has worked for 14 weeks of the specified weekly working time of 40 hours with a holiday period of 4 weeks:
• 40 (weekly working hours) / 52 (working weeks per year) x 14 (number of working weeks worked) x 4 (number of weeks of leave) = 43.07 (rounded up to 44 hours).
• If the employee has worked less than 4 weeks of working time, the entitlement to holiday does not arise at all.

What other changes have taken place?

• There were also changes in relation to:
• legislation affecting situations where an employee works more than 52 times the set or agreed shorter weekly working hours in one calendar year due to the distribution of shifts;
• additional leave;
• reduction of leave;
• recognition of barriers to work as work performance;
• transfer of part of the leave to the following year.

In case of any questions or ambiguities regarding the new legal regulation on holidays and leave, do not hesitate to contact us for more information. We will be happy to discuss it with you.

GT Legal, advokátní kancelář, s.r.o.