Many employers make the mistake of not allocating vacation time of employees. According to the Hungarian Labour Code, vacation time shall be allocated in the year in which it is due.
The Labour Code allows only a few exceptions to this regulation, such as, in case the employment relationship commenced on the first of October or subsequently, the employer shall be entitled to allocate vacation time by 31 March of the next year, or, in case it begins during the subject year and the part of the vacation allocated in the following year does not exceed five working days. Furthermore, by the agreement of the parties, the employer may allocate the extra vacation time the employee is entitled to on the basis of age by the end of the year following the year when due.
Vacation time shall be scheduled by the employer. However, he shall allocate seven working days of the annual vacation time in not more than two parts at the time requested by the employees, save for the first three months of the employment relationship. In any other cases, the employer shall hear the employees before scheduling vacation time.
The Labour Code further stipulates that, unless otherwise agreed by the parties, vacation time shall be allocated in a way that once in a year the employee shall be released from work for at least fourteen consecutive days. Obviously, it is easier to comply with this requirement in the summertime. As long as the workload allows it, we advise you to allocate most of the vacation time during the summer so that you can avoid falling in the trap at the end of the year.