Christmas Eve off from work? The Sejm made a decision
Christmas Eve will become a day off from work from 2025. The Sejm adopted the act together with the amendments submitted by the Senate.
The Sejm approved the Senate’s amendments to the act on public holidays, thereby establishing Christmas Eve as a day off. The changes are to enter into force in 2025 and will apply to all employees, including those employed in trade. The act, which was submitted to President Andrzej Duda, also contains provisions regulating work on December Sundays, providing that this month trade employees will not be able to work more than two Sundays, even though three of them will be commercial.
Amendment to the Act and its assumptions
The adopted amendment to the Act on public holidays, the draft of which was submitted by the Left, initially assumed the introduction of a free Christmas Eve in 2024. However, during the work of the Parliamentary Committee for Economy and Development and Social Policy and Family, amendments were introduced by the Civic Coalition, postponing the date of entry into force of the new regulations to February 1, 2025.
The new regulations also assume that three Sundays will be commercial in December, but each retail employee will be able to work a maximum of two of them during this time.
Why Christmas Eve?
Currently, Christmas Eve remains a working day until 2 p.m., which, in accordance with the applicable Act on Restriction of Trade on Sundays and Holidays, allows for shorter working hours on this day. During the Senate debate, Minister of Family Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk emphasized that the decision to make Christmas Eve a day off is widely supported by society, pointing to its symbolic importance. Many entrepreneurs voluntarily limit their activities on this day anyway, which indicates widespread acceptance of shortening working hours.
The new regulations result from an attempt to reach a compromise between the needs of employees, entrepreneurs and consumers. Minister Dziemianowicz-Bąk described the amendments proposed by the Senate as an example of a successful compromise that takes into account various interests. The provision on a free Christmas Eve is a solution aimed at reconciling the needs of the economy with social expectations.
