User:Kpalion/Public Holidays in Poland

This is a list of holidays observed in Poland. It includes holidays specified by Polish law and selected, particularly popular, customary holidays. Some of these holidays are public holidays, or statutory non-working days; other are working days or non-working days for selected groups (religious, professional) of people only. The holidays may be further categorized as national holidays, that is anniversaries of important events from Poland's history; religious holidays; professional holidays, or holidays of particular professions; international holidays, established by international organizations; and other, customary, holidays.

Statutory non-working days
The Non-working Days Act of 1951 (with subsequent amendments) defines to kinds of days that are legally free from work: If a public holiday falls on a Saturday (or another day that would not be a working day in an employee's work schedule), the employee is entitled to an additional day off. However, if a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the employee's overall working time is not decreased (i.e. the holiday is "lost" from the employee's point of view).
 * Sundays,
 * public holidays enumerated in the Act, and listed in the table below.

There are two movable public holidays – Easter Sunday and Whitsunday – that always fall on Sundays. Their enumeration in the Act is important though, since, apart from being generally non-working days, public holidays carry certain additional restrictions. These include:
 * no traffic of vehicles exceeding the revenue weight of 12 metric tons on public roads between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. on a public holiday, and between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on the eve of certain public holidays;
 * a strict ban on the work of employed personnel in retail stores (which is normally allowed on Sundays as long as as employees receive another day off in return).

Out of the twelve public holidays, there are three secular ones: two national holidays, Constitution Day and Independence Day; and the internationally observed Labour Day, in the referred to in the Act somewhat ambiguously as "State Holiday". All three are also flag flying days, as is the Polish Flag Day, observed on 2 May, that is between the Labour and Constitution Days.

All remaining holidays are Roman Catholic feasts, Poland being a predominantly Catholic country. The Roman Catholic Church in Poland conciders seven feasts to be holy days of obligation, five of which are statutory non-working days: Mother of God (New Year), Corpus Christi, Assumption, All Saints and Christmas. The other two include Ascension, which the Catholic Church in Poland observes on the seventh Sunday, rather tham Thursday, after Easter; and Epiphany (Three Kings) which used to be a public holiday before (see Former statutory non-working days below).

Mariavites
Old Catholic Mariavite Church and Catholic Mariavite Church

Protestants
Includes:
 * the Baptist Union of Poland,
 * the Evangelical-Augsburg (Lutheran) Church in Poland,
 * the Evangelical Methodist Church in Poland,
 * the Pentecostal Church in Poland,
 * the Polish Reformed Church.

Other observances
Most popular holidays include: Mother's Day, Children's Day, Women's Day, Grandmother's Day and St. Valentine's Day.