Who is entitled to vacation at their own expense and how to get it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Whether you can not come to work for a good reason or not - the employer decides. But there are exceptions to this rule.

What is vacation at your own expense

This is the unofficial language used to refer to unpaid leave. This option exists in case you, for one reason or another, cannot go to work, and have already taken a regular vacation or do not want to take it.

In this case, you can agree with the management that you are absent for some time, and your salary will be stopped for this period. Sick leave payments, if you get sick at this time, are also not worth waiting for. But they cannot fire you while you are on vacation at your own expense.

Who can take vacation at their own expense

By law, any employee can apply for such leave if family circumstances require it or if he has other valid reasons. What factors are considered valid is not regulated by law, so the management decides for itself whether to approve the request or not.

It is the employer's right, not the obligation, to let you go for a while without pay.

That is, there are no guarantees. True, there are categories of workers who cannot be refused. For them, the law also determines the maximum period for which they are guaranteed to be allowed to take a vacation at their own expense. It:

• participants in the Great Patriotic War and other hostilities - up to 35 days a year;
• working retirees - up to 14 days;
• parents and spouses of military personnel, police officers, firefighters, customs officers, bailiffs and other similar employees, as well as those who died during or as a result of military service - up to 14 days;
• working disabled people - up to 60 days;
• any employees in the event of a child's birth, marriage registration, death of close relatives - up to five days;
• part-time workers - on vacation at their main job, if it is longer there;
• spouses of military personnel - for the period of leave of the husband or wife;
• working students or applicants - from 10 days to four months, depending on the educational institution and stage of study;
• proxies of political parties and candidates in elections to the State Duma and other elections - during the exercise of powers related to politics;
• war invalids - up to 60 days;
• Heroes of Socialist Labor, Labor of the Russian Federation and full holders of the Order of Labor Glory - up to three weeks;
• Heroes of the USSR, RF and full holders of the Order of Glory - up to three weeks.

How long can a vacation last at your own expense

It depends on how you negotiate with management, and on the reason that forces you to go on vacation without pay. If you belong to the privileged category of workers, then you must be released for the number of days specified in the law.

But if the employer does not mind, you can be absent for longer. State and municipal employees have an upper bar - no more than a year of missing official duties.

In addition, restrictions on the duration of unpaid leave may be specified in the employment contract.

How to apply for vacation at your own expense

In general, the statement of unpaid leave is quite close in text to a similar statement of annual paid leave. Only here you still have to indicate the reasons, so the content of the document will be something like this:

I would like to ask you to provide me with unpaid leave for 10 days from February 5 in connection with the need to organize the transfer of my grandmother from Vladivostok to Moscow.

If you belong to the privileged category, you do not need to specify the reason. But the application must be accompanied by the original or a copy of the document according to which the employer is obliged to release you. For example:

I would like to ask you to provide me with unpaid leave for 10 days from February 5 as a working disabled person. I am attaching a certificate of disability.

If you have papers that do not impose obligations on the employer, but can help management make a decision in your favor, then it is also better to demonstrate them. For example, it can be an invitation to a profile conference where you have long dreamed of going.

Can the employer force you to take a vacation at your own expense?

No, he can not. According to the law, this must be an employee's initiative.

What to do if the employer refuses leave at his own expense

There are not so many options:

1. Persuade management until they agree.
2. Don't go on vacation.
3. Don't show up for work anyway.

The third option is likely to backfire. You may be fired for absenteeism because you did not fulfill your duties. But there is a nuance: if your reason is truly valid, the dismissal can be challenged in court.

It is also worth filing a lawsuit if you are denied leave at your own expense, which is due to you by law.