Time and passage of a holiday
Summer holiday is granted to a period between 2 May and 30 September. Winter holiday is granted to a period between 1 October and 30 April.
The employer will determine a more specific time for the annual holiday. However, an employee is obligated to listen to the employee’s wishes in determining the time of their holiday. These wishes should be taken into consideration but are not binding to the employer. Determining the timing of holidays should be done fairly and equally.
Annual holidays are primarily granted as one period of leave. Both the Annual Holidays Act and the collective agreement have some exceptions to this, however. In accordance with the regulations of SOTE, HYVTES and KVTES agreements, for example, 10 annual holiday days can be divided and taken out in one or several occasions. In SOSTES agreement, this covers a time of the summer holiday exceeding two weeks.
In the most common collective agreements of SuPer members, one holiday week (Mon–Sun) uses up five holiday days. Public holidays, such as Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Monday, May Day, Ascension Thursday, Midsummer Eve, Midsummer Day, All Saints’ Day, Independence Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day and Epiphany, do not use up any holiday days.
Timing of holiday during other leave
Without the employee’s consent, the employer cannot order:
- a holiday to start on an employee’s day off, if this would lead to deduction of holiday days
- a three-day or shorter section of a holiday on a day falling on the employee’s day off entered in the shift list
- holidays on the first 105 days of pregnancy or parental leave of an employee entitled to pregnancy leave
- holidays on the first 105 days of parental leave of an employee entitled to other parental leave
- holidays on the employee’s sick leave.