Mandatory leave is common in the financial sector, where it is used as an anti-fraud device. Keeping your employer from figuring out the scheme you're pulling is a lot harder when you have to have someone cover for you for two weeks.
It’s not just anti-fraud. If you force someone to take a vacation, you force the organization to be able to function without them. This prevents a situation where only a single person is able to make something critical work.
In Europe this is pretty standard practice everywhere. Say you have 30 days of vacation per year. You have to take at least 20, and 10 of those have to be consecutive. Otherwise your manager gets a bollocking from their manager and HR. In theory at least.
The rest of the days might be lost, transferred into next year’s vacation with a cutoff (like until end of Q1 next year or end of the year otherwise they are lost), or with no cutoff and they stack up forever.
In Poland about the same, but with an interesting twist: it's not the company, or CEO, or HR, that risk a fine; the first person fined is your direct manager, personally. Works like a charm, I have to admit.
At least in Czech Republic, this is mandated by - you have to take your PTO in the calendar year it was awarded to you (20 days are mandated by law, by in practice companies give 25 to stay competitive) & your employer has to let you take it (not necessarily when you want, but it has to be in the calendar year).
If the PTO is not taken, the company can be fined by the state, so this is taken rather seriously.
It’s mandated by law almost everywhere in Europe but since countries don’t fully align their laws there may be significant some differences are n how many days and the actual conditions.
> at a minimum, covers those officers and employees involved or engaged in transactional business or having the ability to change the official records of the institution
> The New York State Banking Department considers it to be a prudent business practice for every bank, and branch or agency of a foreign banking corporation, to promulgate and maintain a written vacation policy which, at a minimum, covers those officers and employees involved or engaged in transactional business or having the ability to change the official records of the institution. This policy should also cover all other staffers who are capable of influencing or causing such activities to occur. The Department strongly recommends that all traders be covered by the policy.
> Employees in such sensitive positions should be required to take at least two (2) consecutive weeks of vacation (or other leave) on an annual basis. During such time, the officer or employee must be off-site and off-line. In other words, not only should he/she be physically absent from your premises, but he/she should also not be permitted to effect any transactions or other banking business from off-site, such as through an off-site computer link.
