Break is a breakdown of the physical and intellectual work activities and functions of the employee during the working hours.

Every employee is entitled to paid daily, weekly and annual leave. Employees can not give up from these rights.

The right to rest is a constitutionally guaranteed human right. Article 32 of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia defines it as working right regulated by a legal norm and it is contained in:

• Labor Law ;
• The general collective agreement for the private sector;
• Collective agreements at branch level;
• Collective agreement at the level of the employer;
• Employment contract.

 

THE EMPLOYEES HAVE A RIGHT ON:

Break

The employee is entitled to break of 30 minutes during the daily working hours, in the period when the employee is working for 6 hours or longer than 6 hours.

If the employee is working part-time for at least 4 hours, the daily break is for 15 minutes.

The time period during the working day when the employees use a break is determined by the employer with a Decision that depends on the working process, but it is desirable to practice the pause to be used after two hours of work or at least 3 hours before the end of the working hours at the latest.

The time for a break during the working day is calculated in working hours and it is paid for it.

 

Break between two working days
The employee has a right to a daily break between two working days for at least 12 hours consecutively.

Weekly rest

The employee is entitled to a weekly rest period. Weekly holiday is usually in Sunday, but depending on the working process it can be another day of the week. The weekly rest is 24 hours consecutively. The aforementioned continuous 24-hour week rest complement with another 12 hours of daily rest, because the worker is entitled to a daily rest period of at least 12 hours consecutively, which means a total of 36 hours.

 

Vacation

The employee has the right to paid annual leave. This right, as well as previous rights – right to break, the right to daily rest and the right to weekly rest – are rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia. The Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia places special emphasis on the inviolability of the right to rest with the determination that the employee can not give up from this right. If the employee declares that he is giving up from this right or from the payment for annual leave  – which is guaranteed if he does not use the annual leave, legally, that statement is null and void, which means that it does not produce a legal effect, ie . any statement that the employee is signing that he gives up from his right to annual leave or the right to be paid, will not be valid in court. This also applies if an agreement between the employee and the employer is concluded.

• The paid annual leave is at least 20 working days. With a Collective Agreement at branch level, a Collective Agreement at the level of an employer or a contract of employment, the annual leave can be extended up to 26 working days. In the Collective Agreements at the branch level, in the Collective Agreements at the level of the employer and in the employment contract, there are determined criteria for determining the length of the annual leave above the minimum of 20 working days , such as: the length of the work experience, the complexity of the working tasks, health condition of the employed person (disabled person or worker with residual working ability in accordance with appropriate documentation submitted to the employer), working conditions, worker younger than 18 years of age. If the maximum of 26 working days is exceeded according to the criteria, the length of the annual leave is 26 working days.
• The Labor Law contains provisions for the protection of the older workers, so, in this sense, for this category of older workers – a woman of 57 years of age and a man of 59 years of age are entitled to another 3-day vacation. Also, this right to another 3 working days annual leave also applies to persons with disabilities, an employee with at least 60% physical injuries and a worker who nurtures  a child with a physical or mental disability.These personal and family situations should be supported by documents issued by competent institutions.
• The employee who works part-time is entitled to annual leave with a minimum duration of 10 working days.
• A person who first establishes a working relationship acquires the right to a full-time vacation when he / she achieves consecutive work of at least 6 months work with the same employer (regardless of whether the worker worked full or shorter than full-time). The employee has the right to use a proportional annual leave in the total amount of 2 days for each month of work.
• An employee has the opportunity to use the annual vacation in several parts in a contract with the employer, but one part of the annual leave must last at least two consecutive working weeks. The employer has a legal obligation to provide the employed person with the use of 12 working days of annual leave by the end of the calendar year, and the other unused days may be used by June 30 of the following year. An employer-level collective agreement may regulate this right for an employed person working abroad to use the annual leave fully by the end of the next year.
• As a rule, the employee should use the right to annual leave with an employer to whom he / she has acquired the right. In case of termination of employment, the employer is obliged to issue a certificate to the employee for the unused part of the annual leave in the current year.
• The employee is entitled to a financial allowance for unused days of annual leave only if he has requested, and was not allowed to use it, and his employment has terminated, but not by his guilt or will. With the payment of the financial compensation on the basis of unused days of annual leave,  it is deemed that the employee has fully used the annual leave.
• It is desirable for the employer to prepare in due time a plan for the period of time when the employees will use the days of the annual leave and inform them. When preparing the plan, it is necessary to take into account the continuous progress of the working process, the possibilities for rest and recreation, as well as the personal and family responsibilities of the employees. The employee has the right to request to use a 2-day vacation, the days he / she determines (if needed), but has an obligation to notify the employer in writing 3 days earlier without giving any explanation as to why those days are needed.
• The employer is obliged to obligatorily issue to the employed person a decision for using an annual leave, in which is determined how many days the worker has the right to annual leave, the manner of using it and in what period the employee will use the holiday. If the employed person does not receive a decision, he should addressed in writing to the employer to issue a decision.
• In calculating the duration of the annual leave, the holidays determined by law, Saturdays, Sundays, cases of reasonable absence, are not calculated. During the use of the annual leave, some situations of personal family character may be considered as reasonable absence and this is paid leave: relocation, death of a family member or birth, marriage. The same applies to sick leave, when during the use of an annual leave, the employee uses a sick leave due to a disturbed health condition, the annual leave is terminated and the employee should inform the employer in writing. As a day of annual leave, is  every working day according to the working  schedule of the employer for the particular worker, which is defined as a working day. That is, if during the week the worker has 4 working days and three vacancies, only 4 working days are calculated in annual leave.
• If the employed person could not objectively use the annual leave of the calendar year as a whole, due to certain personal, family reasons (sick leave, injury, maternity leave or care of a child), this right is transferred for the following year, but only until June 30 .

 

Paid leave

Paid leave represents a paid work leave of up to 7 working days due to some justified personal, family circumstances. In the Labor Law they are precisely stated which of them are supposed possible personal and family events, and they are also elaborated in a collective agreement in terms of the time interval:

marriage to a child – 2 days;

marriage – 3 days;

moving in the same city – 1 day; relocation in another city – 2 days;

adoption child – 2 days;

natural disasters – 3 days;

grandmother’s death, grandfather or other family member – 1 day;

for passing exam for the needs of the employer – 3 days, etc.

The total number of paid holiday can not exceed more than 7 days in the current year.