Request for leave from work due to force majeure – legal basis
The legal basis for the request for leave from work for 2 days or 16 hours due to force majeure is art. 1481 Labor Code. You can request 2 days (16 hours) of leave at once or divide it into parts. The first request submitted in a given calendar year determines whether the exemption will be used in days or hours. If an employee writes requesting 1 day off under Art. 1481 According to the Labor Code, the next application should also concern 1 day of vacation. You cannot change your leave to hours. Therefore, it is worth considering the daily or hourly use of vacation when applying for the first time.
Labor Code:
Article 1481[Zwolnienie od pracy z powodu działania siły wyższej w pilnych sprawach rodzinnych spowodowanych chorobą lub wypadkiem] § 1 The employee is entitled to 2 days or 16 hours of absence from work during the calendar year due to force majeure in urgent family matters caused by illness or accident, if the employee’s immediate presence is necessary. During this period of absence from work, the employee retains the right to remuneration in the amount of half of the salary.
Is it more advantageous to request days or hours away from work due to force majeure?
Sometimes it will be more beneficial to use days. An example would be a situation where an employee works 10 hours on Monday and takes sick leave twice that day. This would give them a total of 20 hours off work. However, taking sick leave during the day would be more beneficial on days with shorter work hours. So 16 hours could mean more than 2 days of work.
Request for 2 days leave from work due to force majeure – template
We present an example of a request for 2 days off work due to force majeure. This will be the only application of the year under art. 1,481 of the Labor Code, because it fully exhausts the exemption limit in question. The document must contain the following information:
- designation of employee and employer
- legal basis
- amount of dismissal
- designation of days and possibly hours of leave
- employee signature
This is worth adding The regulations do not specify how a request for exemption due to force majeure must be submitted. Therefore, it is assumed that it can be in any form – including text messages, phone calls or emails.
Sample application for leave from work due to force majeure – legal basis / GazetaPrawna.pl / Emilia Panufnik
Download a sample application for leave from work due to force majeure >>> doc or pdf
Dismissal due to force majeure and justification
The worker must justify why he intends to benefit from the exemption provided for in art. 148.1 Labor Code? NO. The regulations do not impose such an obligation on the worker. You may provide a justification on your application, but it is not required.. However, it is important that the employee presents it within the deadline.
Can an employer refuse to grant sick leave due to force majeure?
The regulation clearly states that the employer is obliged to consider the employee’s request for absence from work due to force majeure (Article 1481(3) of the Labour Code). The condition is that the request must be submitted no later than the day on which this exemption is exercised. If the request is submitted later, the employer is no longer obliged to do so and may therefore refuse. In practice, however, the employer agrees to the employee’s request because of the difficult situation in which the employee finds himself due to force majeure.
Legal basis
Law of June 26, 1974, Labor Code (Official Gazette of 2023, item 1465)