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Running a business offers considerable flexibility, including freedom to organise your workplace, working hours and days off. However, business owners generally have no right to paid leave, which the law reserves for employees working under employment contracts. Nevertheless, there are ways to take holidays while self-employed. Read our article about time-off options for business owners!
Holidays while self-employed: general rules on paid leave and the law
Depending on length of service, employees working under employment contracts are entitled to 20 or 26 days of paid annual leave.
Part-time employees are also entitled to paid holidays, calculated proportionately to their working hours.
Importantly, this entitlement cannot be waived or exchanged for cash, except when the employment contract ends.
However, paid leave derives from the Labour Code, which does not apply to self-employment or B2B contracts. Does self-employment therefore mean you cannot go on holiday? Not necessarily…
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A clause providing paid days off from services in a B2B contract
Market practice shows that more and more B2B contracts, agreements between two businesses, allow a paid break from providing services. Sometimes there may be even more days off than under an employment contract! Everything depends on the parties' arrangements and, above all, the final wording of the signed contract. In principle, the contract can address this freely, specifying not only the duration but also the form of paid leave, including the possibility of dividing it into shorter periods.
In B2B cooperation, only an agreement signed by both parties can provide such leave entitlements. It also forms the basis for pursuing claims in court. This may be necessary if a business partner refuses a paid service break or fails to pay for that period despite provisions in the signed contract.
Planning a longer holiday? Suspending your business may be a good solution
The service-break entitlement described above is increasingly offered as an additional benefit in full-time B2B cooperation. However, many business owners serve several customers rather than one, devoting different amounts of time to each during the month. Contracts providing paid leave may then be hard to obtain…
How can you organise a holiday in this situation?
If planning a longer break, suspending business activity may be a good idea.
Business owners without employees can suspend their activity freely. This removes the obligation to pay ZUS contributions and income taxes, potentially generating significant savings. However, the minimum suspension period is 30 days, during which you cannot conduct business or earn current revenue from it.
ZUS contribution holidays: savings once a year, not necessarily during your holiday
Another option for the self-employed is ZUS contribution holidays.
This relatively new support, introduced only at the beginning of November 2024, is entirely voluntary and available to microbusinesses registered in CEIDG.
In practice, it allows an exemption from social insurance contributions in one freely chosen month of the calendar year.
During that month, you need not pay retirement, disability pension, accident or sickness insurance contributions, or Labour Fund and Solidarity Fund contributions, and can operate normally.
Because of the savings, using contribution holidays during your actual holiday is worthwhile as a way to ease your budget when earning less.
Can the self-employed take holidays? Summary and other time-off options
Everyone deserves rest, not just employees but business owners too. Although fully paid leave is difficult to speak of for the latter, there are ways to arrange holidays that are kinder to the business budget: a B2B contract clause allowing a paid service break, suspending activity or using contribution holidays.
Other options deserve mention. For example, workation, meaning providing services remotely from anywhere in the world while travelling, is increasingly popular. It can combine rest with uninterrupted earnings.
Business owners paying voluntary sickness insurance contributions have additional possibilities for partially paid time off. This insurance allows applying for various benefits, including not only sickness benefit but also maternity and care benefits.
If you found this article interesting, explore our tax advisory services and read how we can help you:
Summary
Need help with the formalities of suspending your business for a planned holiday? Or want to use contribution holidays but are unsure how to prepare the required documents? Contact us today for professional support from the TaxCoach accounting firm. We will answer all your questions and handle business settlements, not only during your holiday!
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