DeVisu | How to postpone leave: basic rules and conditions

It is known that annual leaves are granted in accordance with the approved schedules. But sometimes there are situations when the leave should be postponed. The rules and conditions of changing the leave date are in the following.

The initiator of the leave postponing, agreed to a schedule, could be both an employee and an employer. The conditions of the leave postponing upon initiatives of the employee and the employer are shown in the table.

Table

The conditions of the leave postponing upon initiatives of the employee and the employer

The initiator of the postponing of leave grant is an employee

The initiator of the postponing of leave grant is an employer

According to Art. 11 of the Law of Ukraine “On leave” of 15.11.1996, № 504/96-VR (hereinafter − the Law № 504), annual leave at the request of the employee should be postponed to another period in the case of:

violation of the notice period of the employee about the time of leave granting by the owner or a body authorized by him/her according to part. 10 of Art. 10 of the Law № 504 (not later than two weeks before the date established by the schedule);
late payment of the wage to the employee by the owner or a body authorized by him/her for the period of annual leave under part. 1 of Art. 21 of Law № 504 (not later than three days before the leave).

The employer should postpone the leave to another period or continue it according to part. 2 of Art.11 of the Law № 504 in the following cases:

temporary disability of the employee, certified in the established order and the due date of the maternity leave;
matching of annual leave with educational leave;
implementation of state or public duties by the employee, if under the legislation, he/she should be released from work with keeping the payment at this time.

Except for cases specified in the table, the employer is not obliged to postpone the leave to another period at the employee’s request. But the employer can meet the needs of the employee.

The desire of the employee to postpone the leave should be reflected in his/her statement, according to which the employer issues an administrative order to postpone the leave.

In some cases the leave is postponed upon the initiative of the employer. It could be due to production necessity, when the leave granting in the period defined previously can adversely affect the work of the company. In this case, the postponing requires compliance with certain conditions, in particular:

if there is written consent of the employee as well as the trade union’s;
a part of the leave (not less than 24 calendar days) should be used in the current working year;
the main part of annual leave should be not less than 14 calendar days.

Thus, the period, when the leave is planned to be used, should be indicated in the order to postpone the leave.

How to postpone leave: basic rules and conditions

Unlawful dismissal: legal tools to protect employees

Flexible hours or non-fixed working hours: what is the difference and why it is important to underst...

Stay of an employee abroad: when it is possible to suspend employment contract

Notarial secrecy and the right to information: where the line runs