Christmas Eve as public holiday

​1. 24 December – Christmas Eve has been added to the list of public holidays in the Public Holidays Act of 18 January of 1951.

2. References to 24 December, on which restrictions of trade and trade-related activities in commercial outlets applied, have been removed from the Act of 10 January 2018 on Restricted Trading on Sundays, Public Holidays and Certain Other Days (hereinafter: “the Trading Restriction Act”), e.g.:

• it was prohibited to work in trade or perform trade-related activities free of charge in commercial outlets – on 24 December, on the Saturday immediately preceding Easter Sunday and on Sundays and public holidays; the amendment deletes the reference to 24 December (amended Article 4 of the Trading Restriction Act);
• it was prohibited, among others, to perform trade-related activities (with some exceptions) in commercial outlets after 2 p.m. on the Saturday immediately preceding Easter Sunday, as well as on 24 December; the amendment deletes the reference to 24 December (amended Article 8(1) of the Trading Restriction Act).
  

3. The scope of the exceptions to the prohibition of trade and of assignment of work on Sundays and public holidays (set out in Article 5 of the above-mentioned Act) has been amended to indicate that the prohibition does not apply, among others, “on three consecutive Sundays preceding Christmas Eve”:  

• ​it is worth noting that previously it was “two consecutive Sundays preceding the Christmas Day, excluding the Sunday falling on 24 December” (amended Article 7(1)(1) of the Trading Restriction Act).
  

​4. In connection with the above change, the new provisions also stipulate that if trading takes place on the aforementioned three consecutive Sundays preceding Christmas Eve, then none of the employees may work on all of these Sundays. According to the amended legislation, an employee may work in trade or perform trade-related activities on no more than two of those Sundays (added Article 7(1b) of the Trading Restriction Act).