Are you required to use all your vacation days?

31 comments

1. In Germany, it depends on the employer. Some will demand that you use all of them, and within the same year. With others, you can carry over a certain number of days to the next year, but you need to use them up until a certain date. Some will just send you home at the end of the year if you have leftover vacation, with others, you just lose the right to use them. Generally, you need to be taking all your vacation days (and it is a lot).

2. Me myself, no. But it is relatively common here regardless.

3. Im required by law to take 20 vacations days a year out of my 25 days. The other 5 days I can save for the other year.

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5. In Belgium yes… The only exception are seniority days which you can take the year after.

   In Italy you don’t have to.

6. Law says that employer and employee may decide to about moving over 18days to saved holidays, it also says that employee may move anything over 24days to bank, if it will not cause serious production problems to employer.

   Saved holidays can be used when ever, with 4 month notice and talk with employer.

7. There is no national requirement here, afaik.

   Personally it’s not an issue.,I take all the days off that I am entitled to!

8. EU law states that you must use 20 vacation days per year or you will lose them. Whatever days you have in addition to the mandatory 20 can be carried to the next you or you get money instead, depending on the laws in your country, agreement with unions and policies at the employer.

9. It depends on the company. I work for an extremely small business (6 people total) so my boss is cool with us either carrying vacation days to the next year or even using vacation days from the following year if you want to take a longer vacation. I doubt many places are that flexible

10. No. There are typically limitations on the amount of years one can save them. But last year I didn’t use a couple of weeks so this year I used those, but now I haven’t used enough weeks from this year so they are transferred to next year.
    It is often not possible to save up a half year worth of vacation days.

11. In Croatia you don’t need to use them. But, you’ll lose those vacation days if you don’t use them. Employers won’t pay you for your unused vacation days. So you kinda must use them.

12. It varies from employer to employer but I think most of them demand or at least prefer that you use up all of your vacation days. It’s mostly in their own interest, though. Employers generally want to avoid situations where someone saves up all their vacation time, only to leave the office for 6 months at once.

13. You don’t have to take them by law or anything, but most companies encourage you to do it. My boss always sends threatening emails saying if we don’t book days off, he’ll book them for us on random days. I kept trying to give them away to colleagues who needed them more than I did, but it wasn’t allowed.

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15. yes, our company is quite strict with this.

    remaining holidays are very frowned, you can be allowed to transfer up to 5 days to next year but you need to have really good reason for that. And definitely not twice in a row. They will also force you to take these remaining holidays in first quarter.

    Also at least one vacation has to be at least 2 weeks uninterrupted.

16. You can use them in the next year but it depends on the employer when is the deadline.

17. You should, but any that you don’t take are transferred to next year, when you definitely HAVE to take them.

    Well, in theory. In my company at least, some people just don’t take days off. A colleague from my team had over 50 days accumulated last year. We had a visit from PIP (National Labor Inspection?) and they forced the company to force employees to use their vacation days.

18. There is indeed a legal obligation in Belgium: you MUST take all of your legal holidays (20 days per year for a full-time job) during the calendar year. The employer is legally liable if that rule is not followed. If you don’t take them, they are lost (except if you can’t take them because of medical reasons: then they are compensated for in salary). For other types of vacation days (ie seniority, compensation for overtime or bank holidays that fell on a weekend, etc), it is governed by the employers’ internal rules or collective agreements for the sector (for instance, my employer allows to carry over max 5 days of this type to the next year, to be taken before April 1st).

19. In belgium we like to make things compulsory so I’m sure vacation days are no exception.

    We’re one of the few countries that have compulsory voting, which I love very much.

20. Most companies I’ve worked at (UK) have heavily encouraged everyone to take all their leave. They usually have some kind of system to roll some untaken days over to the next year, as long as they are taken in the first few months.

    My current employer also has a system where we can sell back some unused days in return for extra pay, but I haven’t heard of anyone doing it. Generally everyone just takes all their leave.

21. Use them or lose them. A lot of places allow you to carry some days over to the next year (usually around five days), often those days will have to be used by a particular date in the next year (say the end of March).

    If you’re not using your holidays you could expect to be taken in for a chat with your line manager and HR. It’s not like America here, not taking time off doesn’t make you a hero or show extra dedication.

    There are no laws requiring you to take a specific number of days off in one block, but some companies might insist on at least one two week block.

22. In Lux i think it depends on the industry you are working in and if there is a collective contract.

    For banking/finance/insurance i think is the same for all. You to take at least once per year 10 consecutive days (without including weekends or holidays). Then you can carry over max 10 days to next year. Thise 10 days needs to be taken before the end of March

    There are exception to exceeding the carry over. I, personally, have never seen someone loosing the exceeding days, they are put in bank hours useful in case of need or when retiring/leaving the company.

23. In Poland you are required by law to have at least two consecutive weeks of holiday a year

24. You pretty much have to use them. Employees can bank 3 years of vacation days, but if they don’t take them even after that employers have to explain why exactly is it that the person is so important to the company that they can’t take their vacation days. So pretty much all large/medium companies plan for 2 week yearly vacation and encourage their employees to take the other 2 weeks split in days over the year. Works out best for everyone that way. Smaller companies/private businesses can be slimy about it, but even then I don’t know who would be insane enough to not take their vacation. Oh and 2 weeks uninterrupted in a year is mandatory. It’s the other 2 weeks are what you can carry over to other years.

25. We are urged to take all days off (30) in the same year.

26. It’s different for every company.

    Me:

    • 3 Weeks in the first half

    • 3 Weeks in the Second half

    • At least one Vacation should be 2 Weeks long

    • Plan for the next Year must be ready in Oktober

    Partner:

    • doesn’t really have to Plan anything

    • Can get Time of short notice

27. It’s not a UK thing, but my employer says I can only carry over 5 days of annual leave to the next year unless I get permission from the chief executive to carry over more (and he hates giving that permission, he wants us to take the time off). For me at the moment that’s about 29 days a year I have to take off, plus bank holidays and the time between Christmas and New Year.

28. By the law, you are not. In reality, all companies will insist, allowing you to transfer only a fraction of the days off (~5). My current company did, but since the COVID started, they relaxed this requirement and allow unlimited transfer.

29. We’re not required, but it’s “use it or lose it”.

    We’re allowed to carry a few days leave over into the next year as well.

    But ultimately, why would you want *less* time off work?

30. Not required to take all of them, but required to take one vacation in the length of 14 uninterrupted days. Also all unspent vacation must be either transferred to next year or compensated monetarily.

31. I had a hard time understanding what does « vaccination » days mean