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Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk at the Sejm on a free Christmas Eve

08.11.2024

Czechs, Finns, Portuguese, Lithuanians and Slovaks have long been enjoying the 24th of December as the public holiday. Why Polish workers should not benefit from this day? The economies of the aforementioned countries did not collapse because the Christmas Eve is a public holiday there, and the Polish economy will not collapse either. The cost of introducing the Christmas Eve as a public holiday will be negligible. Many families will become stronger and simply happier,' said Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy, in the Sejm. The first reading of the bill establishing Christmas Eve as a public holiday was held on Friday.

Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk at the Sejm on a free Christmas Eve

On Friday 8 November, the first reading of a parliamentary bill establishing Christmas Eve as a public holiday was held in the Sejm. Poles agree – this day should be a public holiday according to ¾ of those questioned. Support for the Left's proposal was announced by President Andrzej Duda.  

Let us give Christmas Eve back to the families 

Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, the Minister for Family, Labour and Social Policy, pointed out that many people spend Christmas Eve not only preparing but also travelling to their family homes. Not everyone can take a holiday and, as a result, spend this special day as he or she would like to. 

The law on a work-free Christmas Eve has been waited for years. It is a project that will make life easier for millions of Polish women and men. It is a chance for the law to follow social reality. Today we have a chance to give back the 24th of December to Polish families,' said the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy in the Sejm. 

Poles the busiest nation 

Czechs, Finns, Portuguese, Lithuanians and Slovaks have long been enjoying the 24th of December as the public holiday. According to the head of the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, it is time for Polish workers to join this group. The bill, she points out, is relatively simple and involves amendments to three laws: the Act on public holidays, the Labour Code and the Act on trade on Sundays and public holidays.   

In assessing the impact of this project, it is worth recalling that Poles are still one of the busiest nations in Europe. We work 40.4 hours per week, i.e. 3 hours more than the EU average, with only Greece ahead of us in this respect. Another problem is work-life balance. According to an OECD index examining this issue in 2022, Poland ranked third from last among all EU countries.

Since we submitted the bill for a work-free Christmas Eve, voices of support have been pouring in from all over Poland. The biggest trade union centres in our country have come out in favour of the bill. The idea has huge social approval, the vast majority of Polish women and men support it. There is a chance that already this year Christmas Eve will be free - it depends on us in this Chamber. We are the ones who can do the work today so that Polish women and men will not have to work on Christmas Eve. We have a chance to make Polish workers enjoy a free day on Christmas Eve soon, already on 24 December 2024,' stressed the Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk.

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