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Annual leave calculator for Poland 2026 - 20 or 26 days?

Find out how many days of paid holiday you are entitled to in Poland. The calculator adds your years of education to your service, adjusts leave for part-time work and a first job, and shows the result in hours.

  • Free
  • No sign-up
  • Private
  • Runs locally
Length of service (excluding education)

Include all previous periods on an employment contract, regardless of breaks (Art. 154¹ Labour Code), plus other periods your employer counts (e.g. confirmed by ZUS under the 2026 Labour Code amendment).

School periods do not add up - only the single most favourable school counts (Art. 155 § 2 Labour Code).

In the year you start your first ever job, leave accrues in arrears: 1/12 of the annual entitlement after each month worked (Art. 153 § 1 Labour Code).

Annual leave entitlement
26 days
base: 26 days (Art. 154 § 1 Labour Code)
Leave in hours
208 h
1 day of leave = 8 hours (Art. 154² § 2 Labour Code)
Service counted
11 years and 0 mo
incl. education: 8 years
Time left until 26 days
26 days already apply
  • If you reach 10 years of service during the year, 26 days apply for the whole year from that day; if you have already used leave at the lower rate, you get supplementary leave (Art. 158 Labour Code).
  • If you worked while studying, either the work period or the study period counts - whichever is more favourable (Art. 155 § 3 Labour Code).

Results are for information only and are not legal, tax or financial advice.

How to calculate your annual leave in Poland

  1. 1.

    Enter your length of service

    Enter all your time on employment contracts, with every employer, in years and months.

  2. 2.

    Choose your highest school

    Select the highest school you completed - the calculator adds the right number of years (e.g. 8 for a university degree).

  3. 3.

    Set your working time

    For part-time work leave is pro rata and rounded up to a full day.

  4. 4.

    Mark a first job

    If you started your first ever job this year, enter the number of months you have worked.

Leave entitlement: 20 or 26 days

Under Art. 154 § 1 of the Polish Labour Code, an employee on an employment contract (umowa o pracę) is entitled to:

  • 20 days of paid annual leave with less than 10 years of service,
  • 26 days with at least 10 years of service.

These are working days, not calendar days, so 26 days of leave equal more than five weeks off. Service includes all previous employment, regardless of breaks or how it ended. Work abroad can also count when documented, for example employment in another EU country. A 2026 amendment (Art. 302¹ Labour Code) also lets employees add periods of self-employment and civil law contracts (such as umowa zlecenie) for which social security contributions were paid, confirmed by a ZUS certificate. It applies from 1 January 2026 in the public sector and from 1 May 2026 for other employers, with 24 months to submit documents.

Leave is granted in hours: 1 day of leave = 8 hours, so 20 days is 160 hours and 26 days is 208 hours.

Education counts as service

Completing school adds years to the service that decides your leave (Art. 155 Labour Code):

SchoolYears counted
basic vocational schoollength of the programme, up to 3 years
secondary vocational schoollength of the programme, up to 5 years
secondary vocational school for vocational graduates5 years
general secondary school4 years
post-secondary school6 years
university (any degree)8 years

School periods do not add up - secondary school plus university is 8 years, not 12. If you worked while studying, either the work or the study period counts, whichever is better. Foreign diplomas count when they are equivalent to the Polish level. Example: a university graduate with 2 years of work has 8 + 2 = 10 years of service and gets 26 days.

Part-time work and your first job

Part-time: leave is proportional to your working time, based on 20 or 26 days, and a part day is rounded up. Examples:

  • half time, 12 years of service: 26 × ½ = 13 days = 104 hours,
  • three-quarter time, 12 years: 26 × ¾ = 19.5 → 20 days = 160 hours,
  • one-third time, 3 years: 20 × ⅓ = 6.67 → 7 days = 56 hours.

Hours are then used according to your schedule - someone on half time working 4 hours a day uses 104 hours over 26 working days.

First job (Art. 153 § 1): in the calendar year you start your first ever job, leave accrues after each month of work at 1/12 of the annual entitlement - with 20 days that is 1.67 days (13 h 20 min) per month. From the next calendar year you get the full entitlement on 1 January. Unused leave must normally be taken by 30 September of the following year. When your contract ends with leave still unused, see the unused vacation pay calculator.

Frequently asked questions

When do I get 26 days of leave in Poland?

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After 10 years of service, which includes employment with all employers and your education (e.g. 8 years for a university degree). If you reach 10 years during the year, the higher entitlement applies from that day.

How many years does a university degree add?

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A completed university degree counts as 8 years, regardless of how long you studied or which degree you hold.

Do secondary school and university add up?

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No. Under Art. 155 § 2 of the Labour Code only one school counts - the most favourable. After secondary school and university you get 8 years.

How many days of leave do I get on half time?

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Half the entitlement: 10 days with under 10 years of service or 13 days with at least 10 years. In hours that is 80 or 104 hours.

Do B2B contractors get paid leave in Poland?

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Not by law. Statutory annual leave applies only to employees on an employment contract. A B2B or civil law contract may grant paid days off if the parties agree.

Do public holidays count as leave days?

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No. Leave is counted in working days according to your schedule, so public holidays and your days off are not deducted from your entitlement.

Updated: