Postponing a holiday due to falling ill

If an employee becomes sick before their annual holiday or during it, the employee must request the postponement of their annual holiday from the employer as soon as possible. They must also present a doctor’s certification of their incapacity to work at the employer’s request.

• The request for postponing annual holiday should be made in writing.
• In the public sector (under the SOTE, HYVTES, KVTES agreements), submitting the doctor’s certificate to the employer constitutes as a sufficient request to postpone the annual holiday.

If an employee becomes sick during their annual holiday, they may accrue ‘deductible’ days. However, a four-week annual holiday must be guaranteed to the employee, if they have accrued at least 24 weekdays of holiday leave during their holiday credit year.

• Employees covered by SOSTES or TPTES agreements may accrue a maximum of five deductible days.
• An employee covered by SOTE, HYVTES or KVTES agreement does not accrue any deductible days, as these collective agreements have agreements on the employee’s right to postpone their entire holiday due to falling ill.

If the employee falls ill before the start of their annual holiday, there will be no deductible days. A procedure/sick leave that is known prior to starting a holiday also entitles an employee to postpone their holiday.