What are the current rules for taking vacation?

Quick Overview

• Entitlement to vacation in 2026 is earned after working at least 4 weeks and is calculated in hours.
• Employees are entitled to at least 4 weeks of vacation per year (often 5), but the employer determines when the vacation is taken.
• Vacation time does not expire—if you do not use it all, it carries over to the next year.
• If you change jobs, your employer must pay you for any unused vacation time. Entitlement now also applies to DPP and DPČ contracts.

Do you suspect that your employer isn’t calculating your vacation correctly or is refusing to carry it over? Consult our attorney about your situation.

If you are in a standard employment relationship, you are guaranteed at least four weeks of vacation per year. However, most employers currently provide five weeks (or more) of vacation; employees in public service and administration, as well as other selected groups, are guaranteed this directly under the Labor Code. Teaching staff are entitled to eight weeks of vacation.

Employees may be entitled, upon meeting the conditions set forth by law, to:

• vacation for the calendar year or a proportional portion thereof,
• vacation based on days worked, or
• additional leave (applies only to certain employees).

Starting in 2023, the legal provisions will also apply to agreements on work performed outside of an employment relationship, namely agreements for the performance of work and agreements on work activities. Starting in 2023, the provisions regarding vacation time will also apply to agreements for the performance of work and agreements on work activities.

For these purposes, the law establishes a notional weekly working time of 20 hours per week. To be eligible, an employee must therefore work at least four times their weekly working time, which for these agreements amounts to 20 hours per week. The second condition is thatthe agreement must last at least 4 weeks. This also applies to agreements that follow directly one after another.

Annual Leave

An employee is entitled to annual leave for the calendar year if they have worked at least 52 times their specified or agreed weekly working hours for the employer. Otherwise, they are entitled to prorated leave. Full-time employees are therefore entitled to at least 160 hours of vacation per calendar year.

If you take a week of vacation, 5 × 8 hours will be deducted from your vacation balance if you work full-time, for a total of 40 hours of vacation. And if your workweek is only 20 hours, then a week of vacation means 5 × 4 hours will be deducted—that is, 20 hours of vacation from your total annual vacation entitlement of 80 hours.

Pro-Rata Vacation Entitlement

If your employment with a single employer did not last a full year, you are entitled only to a portion of your vacation time, calculated as 1/52 of the total vacation entitlement for each week worked.

For example, if you work 30 weeks for an employer who grants you four weeks of vacation per year, you will be entitled to 93 hours of vacation:

• First, we calculate the number of vacation hours (we multiply the weekly hours worked by the number of weeks of vacation): 40 × 4 = 160,
• then divide the result by 52 to determine how many hours of vacation the employee is entitled to per week if they work the entire year: 160 / 52 = 3.07,
• Finally, we multiply the result by the actual number of weeks worked: 3.07 × 30 = 92.1.

We round up any fractional hours, resulting in an entitlement to 93 hours of vacation.

In practice, calculating vacation time is often a source of errors. If you’re not sure that your employer has calculated your vacation time correctly, it’s worth having a lawyer review the situation

Changing Employers During the Year and Vacation

If you change employers during the year, you accrue vacation entitlement separately with each employer. Vacation time is not transferred between employers—a new employer does not take over the “remaining” vacation time from the previous one.

Your former employer must pay you for any unused vacation upon termination of employment. Payment for unused vacation is only possible upon termination of employment, not during the term of employment.

With your new employer, you will then accrue a new entitlement to vacation, again based on the time worked and fulfillment of the legal requirements.

In practice, we often see that employers do not properly pay out vacation time upon an employee’s departure. If you have any doubts, we recommend addressing the situation promptly —you can retroactively claim your entitlement.

Additional Vacation

Employees working in difficult conditions, such as miners or emergency service personnel, are entitled to additional vacation time. The duration of this time should correspond to the length of the weekly workweek.

Reduction of Vacation Time

Previously, the length of vacation was reduced in the event of long-term excused absences from work on the part of the employee. Under the new Labor Code , maternity leave, sick leave, and care leave, among others,are now counted as time worked; however, this is limited to a maximum of twenty times the weekly working hours, or a maximum of 800 hours(based on a standard 40-hour workweek).

It is important to note, however, that this option is available only to employees who have worked at least twelve times the weekly working hours for their employer, which equals 480 hours.

So when is vacation time reduced? If you are on parental leave or sick leave for the entire year, you do not accrue any vacation entitlement. If you are on parental leave or sick leave for part of the year and work for at least 12 weeks, you are entitled to at least 32/52 of your annual leave (12 or more weeks of work + 20 weeks of sick leave or annual leave credited toward your entitlement).

In the case of an unexcused absence from work, an employee’s vacation time may be reduced by eight hours for each shift not worked.

Who decides when you take your vacation?

The length of your vacation is guaranteed by law, but your employer has the final say on exactly when you take it. Their decision should set the vacation dates so that, if possible, you take the entire vacation in the year in which you became eligible for it.

In practice, of course, it’s not usually the case that your employer will come to you and tell you to take vacation from August 1 to 14. Instead, employees typically suggest dates that work for them. However, the employer has the final say, so it’s possible that they won’t approve your vacation for a period during which you’ve already booked a trip.

The only situation in which your employer’s consent is not required to take vacation is when taking vacation immediately following maternity leave. In this case, the employee simply notifies her employer that she will take her regular vacation immediately after maternity leave.

What if you don’t manage to take your vacation by the end of the year?

Ideally, an employee should use up their vacation time in the same year they become eligible for it. However, this isn’t always possible—for example, due to operational reasons on the employer’s part, long-term illness, or taking maternity or parental leave.

In such cases, the vacation is carried over to the following calendar year. The employer is required to schedule the vacation so that it is taken by June 30 of the following year at the latest. If the employer fails to do so, this right passes to the employee, who may then determine the vacation dates themselves. However, the employee must notify the employer at least 14 days in advance, unless otherwise agreed.

Please note: Vacation days do not “expire” automatically. If the vacation was not taken due to reasons attributable to the employer or due to legal obstacles to work, the employee must be allowed to take it at a later date.

Vacation During the Probationary Period

A specific case involves taking vacation during the probationary period. If you start working for a new employer on July 1 or, conversely, around Christmas—when vacation is most commonly taken—we recommend discussing this with your employer well in advance and being prepared to compromise.

The probationary period is primarily intended for the employee and employer to get to know each other, so it is not very common for an employee to take vacation during the first 3 months of a new job.

If you approach your employer requesting vacation time as early as the second month of your probationary period, your employer will most likely not grant your request. This is especially true because you probably won’t even be entitled to vacation time yet.

On the other hand, the Labor Code does not restrict taking vacation in this way and does not establish any rules different from those that apply outside the probationary period. However, taking a full day of vacation does extend the probationary period.

It is therefore entirely up to your employer whether they allow you to take vacation during the probationary period or not. If you are indeed starting a new job during the summer months, try to take your vacation during the preceding months. Another option for you might be to arrange for unpaid leave.

What if an employer cancels vacation at the last minute?

In such a case, according to the Labor Code, the employer is obligated to reimburse the employee for any expenses incurred through no fault of the employee. So, if an employer approves vacation time in the spring—for example , for July—and then changes their mind, they must reimburse the employee for all expenses, including the cost of a pre-booked trip.

An employer may interrupt or terminate vacation at any time and recall the employee to work, provided that the employer then pays for expenses such as transportation back home, hotel cancellation fees, or deposits paid to a travel agency. In practice, however, this often does not happen.

If your employer cancels your vacation at the last minute and refuses to reimburse your expenses, we recommend consulting a lawyer who can help you seek compensation for your losses.

Summary

Entitlement to vacation in 2026 is based on time worked and is calculated in hours. The minimum duration is 4 weeks, but employees typically receive 5 weeks. The employer determines the vacation dates and should take your needs into account. Vacation time is not transferable between employers and is paid out upon termination of employment. If you are unable to use it all, it carries over to the next year. In the event of a dispute with your employer, it’s best to resolve the situation promptly.