Clock Change in Poland 2026 and 2027 - when do the clocks go back and forward?

The clocks change twice a year, always on a Sunday:

• 29 March 2026 - forward to summer time (from 2:00 to 3:00 am),
• 25 October 2026 - back to winter time (from 3:00 to 2:00 am),
• 28 March 2027 - forward to summer time,
• 31 October 2027 - back to winter time.

Summer time starts on the last Sunday of March and ends on the last Sunday of October. In 2026 it runs from 29 March to 25 October, which is 210 days. Dates for later years (2028-2031 and beyond) are in the table below.

They go back. On Sunday 25 October 2026, when it is 3:00 am summer time, the clocks show 2:00 am. The hour between 2:00 and 3:00 happens twice, the day has 25 hours and you sleep an hour longer.

Phones and computers set to update the time automatically change by themselves. You need to adjust a watch, a car clock, a cooker and a radio by hand. After the clocks go back, the sun rises and sets an hour earlier by the clock.

Poland switches to summer time on Sunday 28 March 2027. When the clock shows 2:00 am, you move it to 3:00 am. The hour from 2:00 to 3:00 does not exist, so the day has 23 hours and you sleep an hour less. The simple way to remember it: forward in spring, back in autumn.

In winter Poland uses Central European Time (CET), which is UTC+1. In summer it uses Central European Summer Time (CEST), which is UTC+2. Both changes happen at 1:00 UTC. In March that is 2:00 am winter time, and in October it is 3:00 am summer time.

On the night of the change, a shift worker works one hour less in spring or one hour more in autumn. The Labour Code does not settle this directly, so below is the position of the National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) from its statements of 26 March and 24 October 2025.

• Spring: the hour an employee does not work because of the change is paid like downtime (Art. 81 of the Labour Code). Monthly pay does not fall. The night supplement (20% of the hourly rate based on the minimum wage) is due only for hours actually worked, so it will be lower.
• Autumn: if the schedule did not account for the change, an employee scheduled for 8 hours works 9. The extra hour is overtime and is paid with the regular wage, a 100% supplement or time off, and the night supplement. An employer can avoid it by scheduling a shift one hour shorter, if the work does not need to be continuous.

PIP cites Articles 151, 151¹, 151², 151⁸ and 178 of the Labour Code. A court decides any dispute. You can calculate overtime pay in the overtime pay calculator.

The Act of 10 December 2003 on official time in the Republic of Poland (Dz.U. 2004 No. 16, item 144) authorises the Prime Minister, in Art. 3, to introduce and end summer time by regulation, with dates set for at least one calendar year. The current regulation of 4 March 2022 (Dz.U. 2022 item 539) covers the years 2022-2026.

On 12 October 2026, the day we checked, there was no regulation for the years from 2027 in the Journal of Laws. We calculate dates for 2027 and later years from the rule in Directive 2000/84/EC: summer time starts on the last Sunday of March at 1:00 UTC and ends on the last Sunday of October at 1:00 UTC. The European Commission publishes a schedule of these dates for future years in the Official Journal of the EU.

There is no such decision. In 2018 the European Commission presented a draft directive (COM(2018) 639) that would let EU countries stop changing the clocks. The European Parliament adopted its position on 26 March 2019. According to the information available on 12 October 2026, the Council of the EU has not adopted its own position, so the proposal has not become law.

Directive 2000/84/EC remains in force. While it does, Poland keeps summer and winter time, and no date for a possible change is known.