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Public Holidays and Bank Holidays for Poland

The list of Poland bank holidays, national holidays and public holidays for 2008, comes from the Q++ Worldwide Public Holidays Database, the professional source of international public holidays long trusted by the world's foremost diary publishers. The information on this page is provided for private, non-professional, use. Qualified professionals can license data for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and beyond. For details, please visit our licensing information page or

 © 1989-2008 Alter Ego Services

17 Oct 2008 (Polskie Radio) The Polish Parliament has rejected a draft bill (see our post of September 22) purporting to restore the Christian public holiday of Epiphany (January 6). • 22 Sep 2008 (Polskie Radio) Following a petition (our post of June 27) which garnered over 600.000 signatures, Poland's parliament is set to vote in early October on the possible Restoration of the January 6 Epiphany public holiday. Some MPs for the ruling Civic Platform Party have indicated that they plan to introduce an amendment to cancel the May 1st public holiday, to keep the total number of public holidays unchanged. • 27 Jun 2008 (Catholic World News + KAI-Warsaw) The petition launched last March, to restore the January 6 Epiphany public holiday (abolished in 1960), has now reached the half-million signatures mark. Since Poland regained its independence in 1991, all other holy days of obligation have been recognized as national holidays in Poland. • 02 Nov 2007 (Cyberpresse) A new law, forbidding stores in Poland from opening on public holidays, came into effect on November 1, 2007. • 24 Jul 2007 (EuroNews) Poland's president is calling for the cancellation of all entertainment events during three days of national mourning for 26 pilgrims killed in a bus crash in the French Alps. • 21 Dec 2006 (Portalino) Poland to hold referendum on euro. Poland, through its Minister of Finance, Zyta Gilowska, has stated its intention to meet the euro criteria by 2009 and hold a referendum in 2010. • 24 Nov 2006 (Warsaw Business Journal) President Lech Kaczynski has extended the period of national mourning, declared yesterday, to last through Saturday. • 23 Nov 2006 (IHT Europe) Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski flew to the site of the explosion that happened at the Halemba coal mine in Ruda Slaska, 300km south-west of Warsaw on Tuesday, and has declared a period of national mourning for the eight dead miners. • 05 Apr 2005 (Local Radio Broadcast) The government of Poland has declared a one-off public holiday, on Friday, April 8, 2005, to mourn the death of Polish-born Pope, John-Paul II. • More News Updates For the full version of the summarized news items above, and older news items not displayed above, go to the Poland public holidays news and updates page, or worldwide public holidays news and updates page, or subscribe to one of our free email newsletters.

Governing Law: Holidays in Poland are regulated by the Non-working Days Act of 18 January 1951 (Ustawa z dnia 18 stycznia 1951 o dniach wolnych od pracy); Journal of Laws, No. 4 of 1960, item No. 28. The Act, as amended in 1990 (texts 159 and 160, respectively: Act to abolish the 22nd of July as the celebration day of the rebirth of Poland and Act to declare the 3rd of May national holiday), currently defines twelve Public Holidays. As Whit Sunday (Pentecost) always falls on a Sunday it is not widely known . • Weekend Public Holidays: Public holidays that occur on a weekend remain on that date (ie. they are not moved to another date, such as the following Monday, for example). • First Week of May: Under communist rule the 1st of May was celebrated as Labour Day with government endorsed parades, concerts and similar events. Following the 1990 changes, the Sejm decided to keep this day a public holiday but to give it a neutral name for a state holiday. In addition, the 3rd of May was made Constitution Day, so that Poles now have two public holidays within one week. It is customary to bridge the gap by taking a day's leave on the 2nd (a date on which it is usually impossible to do any business, as most government offices, banks, shops, etc are closed), and if the weekend falls favourably most Poles can enjoy nine work-free days while using up only three days of leave . • In February 2004, 2 May was named Flag Day; it was not, however, made a public holiday . • Store Openings: A new law, forbidding stores in Poland from opening on public holidays, came into effect on November 1, 2007. • Other Sources of Information For information not covered here, see the following specialized websites: National Bank of Poland (Poland central bank), ASI Hot Spots (security-related world events: terrorist threats, political strife, strikes, criminal activity, aviation incidents and health outbreaks), CIA World Factbook (maps, demographic and economic statistics), Copp Clark (financial markets' trading hours, settlement holidays and currency non-clearing days), and the IFES Election Guide (information covering upcoming elections, referenda, electoral structures and past voter participation).

Religion of Specific Business Contacts : Some of the business contacts that you may be trying to meet in Poland, may belong to a religious group that is not common in Poland, and therefore which is not included in the above list of public holidays or bank holidays. To be safe, you should also verify that no major religious holidays coincides with any planned business trip to Poland. For more information, see our pages on the religious calendars of the world.

Disclaimer
In many parts of the world, holidays are subject to arbitrary, last minute, changes by local authorities. While every effort has been made to present an accurate list of 2008 bank holidays, legal holidays and public holidays for Poland, we cannot accept any responsibility for any error or omission in the data presented above. You are therefore advised to verify the above dates with the embassy or consulate of Poland, before planning any trip to Poland. For last-minute updates to worldwide public holidays, visit our blog or subscribe to our free email newsletters.