Can an employee approve their own holiday leave?

Let's look at a practical example:

An employee, Mr. Novotný, had a colleague who was on long-term sick leave, so Mr. Novotný had no one to cover for him for the entire year of 2021. He therefore had to be at work all year and could not take his regular leave. As a result, Mr. Novotný is carrying over 4 weeks of "old" leave into 2022.

However, Mr. Novotný is, understandably, severely overworked and is planning to take a long break. But his colleague has not yet returned from sick leave, and therefore his employer did not approve his leave.

However, starting from 1 July 2022, Mr. Novotný has the right to determine the timing of his leave himself. The Czech Labour Code allows him to do so. From 1 July 2022, Mr. Novotný can therefore schedule 4 weeks of leave in a row for himself, and his employer has no effective way to fight it.

It may seem surprising, but it is true. The Czech Labour Code does indeed contain these rules:

“If the taking of leave is not scheduled by 30 June of the following calendar year at the latest, the employee also has the right to determine when to take the leave. The employee is obliged to notify the employer in writing of the taking of the leave at least 14 days in advance, unless they agree with the employer on a different notice period.”, see Section 218(4) of the Labour Code.

Pay attention to timely notification!

The employee must simply remember to notify their employer in writing of the date of their leave 14 days in advance. It can be that simple in practice. This provision is in the nature of a sanction for the employer's failure to order the employee to take leave in the given year or in the following six months.

Can the employer defend itself?

In practice, however, it is disputed among labour law experts whether a company can recall an employee from leave scheduled in this way (Section 217(3) of the Labour Code). In our opinion, the employer does not have the right to recall the employee from leave, as in such a case this legal instrument would be completely meaningless.

However, one can also find opinions from the opposite end of the spectrum (cf. VALENTOVÁ, Klára, PROCHÁZKA, Jan, JANŠOVÁ, Marie, ODROBINOVÁ, Veronika, BRŮHA, Dominik et al. § 218 [Povinnost určit čerpání; 31. říjen roku následujícího]. In: VALENTOVÁ, Klára, PROCHÁZKA, Jan, JANŠOVÁ, Marie, ODROBINOVÁ, Veronika, BRŮHA, Dominik et al. Zákoník práce. 1st edition (1st update). Prague: C. H. Beck, 2020, marg. no. 14.).

However, most problems with taking leave can be effectively prevented by setting up working hours correctly and appropriately. Are you interested in the 2025 updates in Czech labour law? JUDr. Kořenářová has prepared a webinar for you.