Hungarians devote little time to rest

Although Hungarians are able to enjoy more long weekends this year than in previous years, on an annual basis there are still fewer legally-stipulated national holidays in Hungary than in other countries in the region, Accace’s survey of six Central-Eastern European countries points out. Slovaks enjoy the greatest number of paid days off, whilst our Ukrainian neighbours even get an extra day off when a national holiday falls on a weekend.

At the moment, the holiday season is reaching a peak at most companies, as the majority of employees arrange their summer holidays for this time. Many people plan their holidays in a way that a long weekend is included too in order that fewer days off are used up during holiday. It is likely that, due to it being the only long weekend in the summer period, the time around August 20 will be the holidaying peak as the national holiday on that day falls on a Monday this year. This isn’t the only long weekend though this year: in 2012, of the total of nine three- or four-day weekends, there are still five to come – it’s worth it therefore to handle your holidays wisely in order to get the benefit of the extra days off the long weekends provide.

“Despite the high number of long weekends, there are much fewer national holidays in Hungary than in the other countries of the Central-Eastern European region. While, for example, there are 13 paid days off in Poland and 15 in Slovakia every year, in Hungary the total is just 10”, comments István Nemecz, Accace General Manager on the survey.

The key outsourcing and consulting company in the region, Accace, has conducted a survey on holidays in six Central-Eastern European countries, which has produced surprising results. Of the countries taking part in the survey (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, the Ukraine), the lowest number of national holidays is in Hungary and the Ukraine. The Ukrainians, however, receive all ten days as days off, as, if one of the days falls on a weekend, then they definitely don’t have to work on the following Monday. In other countries of the region, including Hungary, employees miss out on the days off in such cases. In the case of those having to work on national holidays that fall on weekends, they usually receive twice the wages for Saturday and Sunday than for an average weekday. Another interesting point is the considerable popularity of creating long weekends by swapping working days: in each of the six countries of the region, it is necessary to work off the Friday or Monday if the national holiday falls on a Thursday or Tuesday, with the exception of Poland and Slovakia where the Monday or Friday is a working day in such cases.

Interesting facts on holidays in the Central-Eastern European region

Of the neighbouring countries, the number of paid days off is highest in Slovakia (15), followed by Poland (13), Czech Republic (12) Romania (11) and finally Hungary and the Ukraine with 10 days each
While Slovak legislators are considering the phasing out of two national holidays, Romanian politicians are planning to introduce two new national holidays
In the Ukraine, employees still receives a day off if the national holiday falls on a weekend – in such cases, employees don’t need to work on the following Monday
There are typically fewer long weekends in Slovakia and Poland than in Hungary, as the system of swapping days doesn‘t work there, thus if the national holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, then they work on Monday and Friday as normal, thus they don’t swap that day for a Saturday
In 2013, the year in Hungary will begin straightaway with a long weekend: December 31 falls on a Monday and employees work off this day on December 29 so that they can see out the old year and bring in the new with a three-day weekend