An amendment to the Labour Code concerning, among other things, unused leave and its transfer came into force on 1 January 2021. We are, however, only now encountering this new regulation in practice for the first time, when this topic is relevant and employers are dealing with transfer of any unused leave from 2021 to the new year 2022.

Determination of the time of using leave from work

The employer determines the period of leave to be taken by the employee, generally so that it is taken by the end of the calendar year in which the right to leave accrues. The employer is obliged to give the employee at least 14 days' written notice of such designated leave, unless a shorter period is agreed with the employee.

The employee can also ask the employer for leave at any time, but the employer must agree (but does not have to agree). In a situation where an employee requests the employer to designate leave to follow the end of maternity leave and the employee requests leave to follow the end of parental leave until the employee is entitled to take maternity leave, the employer is legally obliged to comply with the request.

The employer should primarily determine the use of leave so that it is taken by the end of the calendar year in which the employee is entitled to leave. Leave may be carried over by the employer to the next calendar year only if the use of leave is prevented by obstacles on the part of the employee or urgent operational reasons.

However, part of the leave exceeding 4 weeks (6 weeks for teaching and academic staff), i.e. leave in excess of the basic statutory rate, may be carried over to the following calendar year even if the employee requests this in writing to the employer.

The employer must determine the use of the transferred leave so that it is used by the end of the following calendar year at the latest. If the employer does not determine the duration of the carry-over leave by 30 June of the following calendar year, the employee shall also have the right to determine the use of the leave. In this case, the employee must, like the employer, give at least 14 days' written notice of taking leave, unless otherwise agreed with the employer.

If an employee becomes temporarily incapacitated or takes maternity or parental leave, and the already transferred leave cannot be taken until the end of the following calendar year, the employer must determine the period of leave to be taken after the end of these obstacles.

The so-called reimbursement of untaken leave is only permissible in the event of termination of employment. If the employment relationship continues, the employer may not provide reimbursement of wages to the employee for untaken leave.