Reinstatement to Work under Previous Conditions and the Right to Holiday Leave on the Basis of the Case Law of the Supreme Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union

This essay concerns analysis of specified provisions of the Labor Code and international acts regarding annual leave, as well as the case law of the Supreme Court and the decisions of the CJEU, in order to address the following question: With regard to an employee employed in Poland, with whom the employer unjustifiably terminated the employment contract, and whom the Labor Court reinstated under previous conditions upon the employee’s request, should the time from the termination of the employment contract to the employee’s reinstatement under the previous conditions be included in the seniority for which the employee is entitled to vacation leave? The conclusion is that, in accordance with the adopted jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, the periods of unemployment due to unlawful termination of an employment contract, from the date of the termination of employment to the date of undertaking work after reinstatement, do not affect the right to vacation leave. A different opinion arises from the CJEU decision discussed here. It should be emphasized that the rule expressed by the CJEU is not applied under Polish labor law.