Absence from work – how should an employee proceed?

Absences from work fall into two main categories – excused and unexcused (unauthorised). There are many reasons why an employee may be absent from work, including holidays, illness (a L4 sick leave) or donating blood. All these examples relate to the category of excused absences. Examples of unauthorised absence include oversleeping or the intentional abandonment of work by an employee, either without prior authorisation or any explanation.

In the case of excused absences that are not leave granted by the employer, it is necessary to inform the employer and present an explanation for the absence. This issue is regulated by the regulation of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy on the manner of justifying absences from work and granting leave to employees of 15 May 1996 (consolidated text in the Journal of Laws of 2014, item 1632) (the “Absence Regulation”).

According to the Absence Regulation, an employee is required to inform the employer, in advance, of the reason and expected duration of their absence from work, if they knew or could have foreseen in advance that the reason resulting in their absence from work would occur.

Unfortunately, in everyday life, it is sometimes difficult to foresee in advance the possible situations for taking time off work, and in order to address this risk, the legislator has provided in the Absence Regulation that employees should notify the employer immediately – and no later than the second day of absence from work. In addition, in exceptional circumstances, an employee may be excused even if they notify the employer after that deadline (i.e. after the second day of absence). Exceptional circumstances include, for example, serious illness where no household members are able to inform the employer of the situation.

Can the employer organise certain issues? 

The employer may use the work regulations, or the information on the terms and conditions of employment (if no work regulations are adopted at the employer), to regulate the manner in which the employee reports their absence. The regulation sets out examples of ways of informing the employer, such as: in person, by another person, by telephone or other means of communication, or by post. The employer may specify the ways it considers acceptable, e.g. it may consider that the employee cannot report their absence through another person, or it may indicate that the employee must send an email to a special address or call an HR person.

Donating blood – as an example of an excused absence

According to the Absence Regulation, the employer is required to grant an excused absence to employees for the time specified by the blood donation station to donate blood. The employer is also required to release an employee who is a blood donor from work for the time necessary for the periodic medical examinations prescribed by the blood donation station, if these cannot be performed during the employee’s free time. According to the Absence Regulation, the following frequency of blood donation is possible:

• Women – a maximum of four times a year;
• Men – a maximum of six times a year;
• The interval between donations must not be shorter than eight weeks.

Importantly, in the case of an employee donating blood, as long as there is an epidemic or a state of epidemic emergency – and there is currently an epidemic emergency – the employee is entitled to two days off, i.e. on the day of the blood donation and the following day. If an employee donates blood on a Friday, for example, the second day off would be a Saturday and the employee would not be entitled to an additional day off at work on another date. At all other times, i.e. outside the state of epidemic or a threat of an epidemic, the employee is entitled to one day off.