Winter break, 2024-2025. Days off for students and employees

Winter vacation for students and teachers

According to the structure of the school year 2024-2025, the winter vacation starts on Saturday, December 21, 2024, and ends on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Thus, students return to classes on Wednesday, January 8, 2025. In total, they will benefit from 18 free days in this period, covering the Christmas, New Year, Epiphany and Saint John holidays.

This holiday marks the transition between the second term of the school year, running from 4 November to 20 December 2024, and the third term, which starts on 8 January 2025 and continues until the February holiday (the “ski holiday”), individually determined by school inspectorates.

Statutory days off for employees

Employees in Romania are entitled, by law, to the following days off during the winter holidays:

• December 25 and 26, 2024 (Wednesday and Thursday) – Christmas;
• January 1 and 2, 2025 (Wednesday and Thursday) – New Year;
• January 6 and 7, 2025 (Monday and Tuesday) – Epiphany and Saint John.

These add up to at least four legal days off in January 2025 alone. However, depending on the policy of each company or institution, there is the possibility of granting “bridges” to connect these days to weekends, extending the duration of the holiday. For example, if employers decide to offer Friday, December 27, 2024, or extend the holiday to early January, employees could benefit from a much more generous holiday.

So, for students and teachers, the structure of the holiday is already clear, making it easier to plan in advance. Instead, employees will find out later if the days off will be bridged to the weekend, he notes Antena3 CNN.