What personal needs can be met during work?
In the Labor Code, which regulates employee-employer relations, as explained by the Chancellor of the State Labor Inspectorate, Šarūnas Orlavičius, such situations are defined as personal needs, in which case employees have the right to demand time off, in other cases, the parties could agree on the possibility of providing time off.
However, as the chancellor emphasizes, personal needs are really a very subjective matter, so we will not find a list in the Labor Code under which circumstances an employer can dismiss an employee for a few hours or a few days and under which circumstances the employee has such a right. However, there are some examples that the Labor Code defines.
“As for personal matters related to learning, let’s say a student works and needs to take an exam, and even though taking an exam is not related to work, the Labor Code provides for the possibility of granting study leave in such cases – to prepare for regular exams and three days for each exam to hold This is, of course, a separate area when such targeted leave related to science is granted. The employer should provide them after the employee submits a certificate from the university or higher education institution that he will take the exam on, say, April 20.
Educational leave is usually unpaid, unless the employer and employee agree when it can be paid for with wages. It is important to note that the Labor Code provides for a certain exception – if an employee has been working for the employer for five years, half of the employee’s average salary is paid for the study leave”, says Š. Orlavicius.
Another example of free time could be the well-known “mother’s day” and “father’s day”, which are also defined by the Labor Code.
“Parents who raise children and have the right to a ‘father’s day’ or a ‘mother’s day’ can take a day off or reduce, for example, the working day by a certain number of hours throughout the week. Again, this time off work is purposeful, related to children, family obligations, say maybe taking a child to a treatment facility, getting them ready for club, etc. The employee would be paid for this time,” he explains.
The Labor Code also provides for cases of unpaid leave in which the employer must grant it, for example, funeral of a relative, disability of an employee or care of a close person with a disability, care of a seriously ill relative, child care leave or pregnancy, marriage. All other personal needs not defined in the Labor Code (visits to medical institutions, unexpected events for family members or other reasons) are already a matter of agreement between the employee and the employer.
“If we were to ask to go to the hairdresser or somewhere else, it might sound strange, but the Labor Code stipulates that the employer must always provide unpaid time off, that couple of hours, if the employee’s request is related to any urgent family reasons, illness or accident in cases where the employee must directly participate somewhere.
If, for example, an employee received a call from a kindergarten or educational institution that something had happened to the child, let’s say, he cracked his head and maybe he needs to be taken to the hospital, there is no question, I just tell the employer: I got a call, I have to go. In this case, the employer must provide free time. If it was, as I mentioned, a barbershop, then this is already a matter of agreement, but the barbershop would probably not be an important reason for which the employer would have to fire the employee,” says Š. Orlavicius.
How many hours can the employer provide?
As the interviewer explains, if the employee knows that he will be able to complete personal matters in a few hours, then it would be more appropriate to choose free free time and the opportunity to work it off and receive the same salary. And if it is planned to take the whole day, the Labor Code stipulates that in such cases you should think about vacation. They can be paid or free.
“If we want to do something all day and we know it will take time (perhaps we need to drive to another city), then in this case it is worth thinking about a paid or free vacation.” Or, perhaps, there are matters that last longer than one day, some personal need, then we can ask the employer to grant annual leave, or we can also ask for unpaid leave, because perhaps all the annual paid leave has been used up,” says the specialist.
It should be noted that the Labor Code does not provide for the obligation to use free time for personal needs. It depends on the agreement between the employer and the employee – if it is agreed in advance that the time allocated for personal needs needs to be worked, then in order to keep the salary unchanged, it should also be agreed when the employee will work the working hours allocated for his needs.
“For example, you need to go to the polyclinic to have certain planned examinations, perhaps take your parents or children to some institution, etc. The employee can agree with the employer that today morning not from 8 o’clock. would like to work, and let’s say from 10 a.m. Therefore, he will not be there for two hours, he asks to give this free free time to meet his personal needs.
It is possible to arrange to work those two hours, say, on the same day after working hours. So I don’t start work at 8 o’clock. and I don’t finish at 5 p.m., but I start at 10 a.m. and I finish at 7 p.m. in the evening – in the morning I take care of my affairs, and in the evening I have no business, so I can make up that time and get the same salary”, explains the interviewer.
The agreement, emphasizes Š. Orlavičius, should be recorded in writing – this helps to avoid disputes that may arise in the future.
“The Labor Code provides for a general rule that all transmitted information should be in writing. In writing – it is not necessarily written on paper with signatures, printed and so on. E-mails, even SMS messages are also suitable – as the workplace is already established.
For example, for us, e-mails are an appropriate means of communication and agreement, so I send an email to my manager that, let’s say, I got an appointment tomorrow at a medical facility, because otherwise I would have to wait two months, and I ask the employer: can I start work on Monday at 10 h., not from 8 a.m., because 8:30 a.m. I got a doctor’s appointment and I’m going to do those two hours after hours – is that okay? If the employer writes that yes, it is suitable, everything is fine, it could be considered a suitable agreement”, says the chancellor of the State Labor Inspectorate.
And when asked whether the lunch break can be used to meet personal needs, or whether lunch should still be taken at that time, Š. Orlavičius emphasizes: an employee can do any activity he wants during his lunch break.
“Since the lunch break is non-working time, the employee can leave his workplace and do practically anything he wants – he can visit the doctor, eat, even go to the hairdresser, get his nails done or do other beauty treatments. It is the choice of the employee how he will use that time. The employer has no control over what he will do at that time.
Only the possibilities of how to use the lunch break depend on its duration. It cannot be shorter than 30 minutes, but it cannot exceed 2 hours. It should be taken into account what kind of lunch break is set, – if it lasts an hour, and there is a medical facility near the workplace and the employee has time to do his things, then everything is fine, – there is no need for the employer’s permission and there is no violation,” the interviewer notes.
Can the employer disagree?
If it were to happen that due to really important and urgent reasons it would be necessary to excuse oneself from work, and the employer would not grant such a right, or even worse – apply disciplinary liability for breach of duty upon departure, the employee can apply to the Labor Disputes Commission.
“If there was such a situation that a child split his head and you need to urgently go to pick him up from an educational institution, and the employer does not let him out, then it is probably both common sense and logical to understand that the employer is acting clearly illegally. I would think that then the employee must fulfill his duties as a father or mother and go and pick up the child.
If the employer in such a case applies any disciplinary responsibility for breach of duty, for example dismissal because the employee has left, the latter can apply to the Labor Disputes Commission. The employee would also claim both damages and unpaid wages if the employer excused him for breach of duty. So here are the principles of common sense, common logic and common humanity – they should apply. The mere principle of the employer “I will not and will not allow” even though the child is bleeding and needs to be taken to the hospital, would clearly be an illegal act, he says.
When asked what evidence the employee should submit to the Labor Disputes Commission, the chancellor explains: “The Labor Disputes Commission in such a case, if the employee were to face any consequences of breach of duty, could dispute it. If the employee justified his departure due to family circumstances, for example, a child split his head, and the employer applied responsibility, the Labor Disputes Commission would assess whether there was really a reason to leave. In this case, the employee would submit a certificate from the hospital that perhaps it was necessary to sew up the split head, so he had to leave at that time – this would be proof that there was a circumstance that is provided for by law, and the employer could not act otherwise than to release him, and the disciplinary responsibility was applied to the employee illegally. The proof in this case would simply be the basis for which the employee had to leave.”
Fortunately, as the interviewer notes, such cases are extremely rare in the Labor Disputes Commission.
“One can even be happy that it is employers who encourage employees, motivate them, set certain wellness days, when, say, three days a year employees can simply not come to work, improve their health, spend time with their family, and so on. And there are not many disputes about such releases. Unfortunately, most disputes arise over payment,” the specialist notes.
Exemption is possible for abuse
According to the interviewee, however, employers usually sense when unpaid time off is too often requested and goodwill is abused. In such cases, the employer may ask the employee for evidence justifying the need for time off. In addition, when such circumstances arise, the employer may take other measures.
“When there is already abuse, the employer feels it from the whole set of circumstances and there is a legitimate reason to believe that the workers are being illegally solicited. Then you can simply not give free time. Well, again, here we are probably facing a possible dispute, and this dispute would be examined by the Labor Disputes Commission, which would assess whether there was a reason to ask for time off, or whether there was a reason for the employer to refuse, and make a decision.
Dismissal of the employee is applied for gross violation of duties, for example, absent from work without justifiable reasons. So such abuse, perhaps once asking to be sent to a treatment facility and going to the hairdresser, I don’t think it would be a gross breach of duty. A dismissal would simply be a disproportionate remedy for such an offence. Then perhaps it would be possible to warn that if he commits the same violation a second time, then he will already be fired. However, each case is evaluated individually.
There is already a separate procedure here: if the employer determines that the employee may have abused his right, perhaps even formed a labor commission, which was not convinced by the employee’s explanation, then he informs the employee in writing that this is a breach of duty and if he commits such a breach a second time, then he will be fired . If an employee commits a violation for the second time within 12 months, and it is established that it has been committed, the employer can fire the employee without warning”, says the chancellor of the State Labor Inspectorate and emphasizes that such cases are extremely rare.
