Public holidays: Good Friday / January 2 / Sundays - do companies work in Poland?

Hi, Just a query! thanks

Yes, universities are empty though.

Pope should rename this day. Good Friday makes absolutely no sense.

Merged: Is January 2 really not a public holiday in Poland?

I ask because since we have New Year's Day landing on Sunday, in most countries I've lived in, an official public holiday then immediately follows on the Monday. But this appears not to happen in Poland. May I check if this is correct? Shops and other businesses will all be open in principle on Monday?

Yes, Monday is a normal business day.

In 2011 a certain element of society wanted the 6th of January returned as a national holiday; another religious festival in the already bloated calender, making 11 public holidays in all.

As a compromise, the "day in lieu" system was cancelled, meaning a holiday is not carried over to the next working day if it falls on a Saturday or Sunday. In effect, this means we'll only have 9 holidays in 2012 instead of the 10 we had in 2010.

Epiphany or Three kings day is a public holiday in countries such as Austria, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland, Ethiopia (but on different date that varies annually), parts of Germany, Greece, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, and Uruguay. It is not a public holiday in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States (except the US Virgin Islands where it is a public holiday).

timeanddate.com/holidays/common/epiphany

That was a masterstroke by the Government when it came to cutting down the amount of holidays while silencing the usual lunatics. Completely idiotic, senseless holiday, though. I'd rather have a day off later in the year!

It's going to be very interesting this year - the 1st of May is on Tuesday, the 3rd of May is on Thursday. Who isn't going to take 3 days off work in exchange for 9 days holiday here?


Business as normal. Everything will close down on the 6th instead, because it really makes sense for people to overcrowd trains/roads on New Year's Day while still drunk, just for going off on holiday on the 6th instead.

Merged: Public holidays in Poland and work. Days In Lieu - Sundays.

I have just been informed that, if a public holiday falls on a Saturday then you can still take a day in lieu from your work so you still get a day off for the holiday, however if it's on a Sunday then that's not possible. Can anyone confirm if this is true, and, if so, shed some light on this strange (and highly upsetting this year with 03/05 and 01/11 on Sundays) rule?

That is almost correct. The actual rule is that when a public holiday falls on a Saturday, the employer of persons who would not normally work on that day can choose to give an extra day off or to designate a mandatory day off for all employees. Sadly more than a few employers have looked at the calendar and realised that the days when it's traditional to only be at the office for a half day and to not do any work anyway (i.e. Xmas eve and NYE) can be given as compensation for full days lost.

As for why Sundays have to be a special case, are you really asking that in a country where the church does pretty much as it likes?