Who doesn't check at the beginning of the year what public holidays will be in 2025 and how many working days will be there?

That's why we've prepared the calendar of days off for this year, so you know how to plan your vacation and which days you can make mini getaways, especially since almost half of them fall on a Monday or a Friday.

In 2025, employees in Romania will enjoy 17 public holidays, offering them the opportunity to relax, spend time with family, or enjoy personal hobbies.

Compared to last year, when there were only 10 public holidays during the week, this year is more generous, with 13 holidays falling on weekdays and 4 on weekends.

According to the Labor Code, the legal public holidays in 2025 in Romania when employees will not work are as follows:

January 1 and 2 (Wednesday and Thursday) – New Year's Day

January 6 (Monday) – Epiphany

January 7 (Tuesday) – Saint John the Baptist

January 24 (Friday) – Union Day of the Romanian Principalities

April 18 (Friday) – Good Friday

April 20 and 21 (Sunday and Monday) – Easter

May 1 (Thursday) – Labor Day

June 1 (Sunday) – Children's Day

June 8 and 9 (Sunday and Monday) – Pentecost

August 15 (Friday) – Assumption of the Virgin Mary

November 30 (Sunday) – Saint Andrew

December 1 (Monday) – National Day of Romania

December 25 and 26 (Thursday and Friday) – Christmas

If work cannot be interrupted on these public holidays, the employer is required by the Labor Code to provide compensation to employees in the form of extra days off or salary bonuses.

Public Sector Days Off in 2025

If you work in the public sector, in addition to the days off on January 6 and 7, you will also be entitled to two more days off. On October 11, the Ministry of Labor published a Government Decision granting additional days off, beyond the legal holidays, for 2025. According to this decision, January 3 and May 2 are declared national days off.

Art. 1. In 2025, for public sector employees, January 3 and May 2 will be declared days off.(2)To make up for these days off, public institutions and authorities will extend their working hours until January 31, 2025, and May 31, 2025, respectively, in accordance with their internal schedules.(3)No additional time off will be granted for the extra hours worked, as specified in paragraph (2).

The first working day in the public sector will be January 8, since January 4 and 5 fall on a weekend.

School Vacations in 2025: Days Off for Students and Teachers

According to the 2024–2025 school year structure, students and teachers will be on break up to and including January 7, 2025. After that, three more vacation periods are scheduled:

- End of Module 3: One week, determined by each County School Inspectorate/Bucharest Municipality Inspectorate, between February 10 and March 2, 2025.

- End of Module 4: From Friday, April 18, 2025, until Sunday, April 27, 2025.

- End of Module 5 (Summer Vacation): From Saturday, June 21, 2025, until Sunday, September 7, 2025.

Special Days Off

According to Article 52 of the Labor Code, employees are entitled to certain legally recognized days off in 2025 for special family events, and these do not count toward annual leave. The type of event and the number of days off are set by law, by the applicable collective labor agreement, or by each organization’s internal regulations.

Under the single national-level collective labor agreement, valid in all commercial entities, employees receive the following paid days off for special family events or other situations:

- Employee’s own wedding: 5 days

- Wedding of the employee’s child: 2 days

- Birth of a child: 5 days + an additional 10 days if the father has attended a childcare (puericulture) course

- Death of spouse, child, parents, or parents-in-law: 3 days

- Death of grandparents, siblings: 1 day

- Blood donation: 1 day

- Transfer to a different workplace within the same company, involving relocation: 5 days

- Unpaid leave of 30 days to prepare and defend a graduation thesis in higher education

In addition to legal and special days off, employees are also entitled to:

- Annual leave of at least 20 days per year (most companies offer 21), according to the Labor Code

- Justified absences for family emergencies (illness or accident), with prior notification to the employer and recovery of missed hours. This cannot exceed 10 working days per calendar year, and the recovery terms are decided by mutual agreement, under Law no. 283/2022

- Maternity leave of 126 days

- Medical leave and maternal risk leave

- Child-raising leave until the child reaches 1 year and 11 months of age

- Paternal leave of 20 days (10 days granted by the state, under Government Emergency Ordinance no. 117/2022, plus 10 additional days if the father has completed a childcare course)

How to Plan “Bridge Days” Between Days Off in 2025

As mentioned, in 2025 there will be 17 legally recognized days off, of which 4 fall on weekends and 13 on weekdays. Below are a few suggestions on how you can link weekday days off to weekends for enjoyable mini-vacations:

1. New Year’s, Epiphany, and Saint John’s

- 2025 begins on Wednesday, January 1 (a legal holiday), followed by January 2 and 3 (government-declared days off).

- Next is the weekend (January 4–5) and then January 6 and 7 (Epiphany and Saint John’s Day).

- Altogether, this creates a 7-day uninterrupted holiday.

- If you also take off December 27, 30, and 31, you can combine Christmas break with the New Year’s break, giving you 14 consecutive days off.- 

2. Mini-Vacation for January 24 – Unification Day of the Romanian Principalities

- January 24 falls on a Friday, so you can plan a short vacation from the afternoon of January 23 through Sunday, January 26.

- Given how popular this period is, it’s best to make reservations in advance.

3. Easter Mini-Vacation

- In 2025, Orthodox Easter is on April 20.

- Good Friday (April 18) is a day off, as well as April 19, 20, and 21.

- This provides a 4-day break, from Friday to Monday.

4. May 1 Mini-Vacation

- In 2025, May 1 is on a Thursday, about 11 days after Easter.

- By taking off May 2 (Friday), you can connect these days with the weekend, creating a short vacation.

5. Pentecost (Rusalii) Mini-Vacation

- In 2025, Pentecost is celebrated on Sunday, June 8, and Monday, June 9, both legal days off.

- Combined with Saturday, June 7, this creates a 3-day long weekend.

6. August 15 Mini-Vacation

- The Dormition of the Mother of God (August 15) falls on a Friday in 2025.

- You can therefore enjoy a mini-vacation over the weekend of August 16–17.

7. December 1 Mini-Vacation

- In 2025, December 1 (National Day) is on a Monday, while November 30 (St. Andrew’s Day) is on a Sunday.

- This allows for an extended weekend from November 29 to December 1.

- In coming years, these dates will fall during the workweek, offering even more mini-vacation opportunities.

8. Christmas Mini-Vacation

- In 2025, Christmas falls on a Thursday, and December 26 (Friday) is also a legal day off.

- This gives you a 4-day mini-vacation.

- If you choose to link it with New Year’s and the early January days off, you could end up with a holiday of about 14 days at the end of the year.

In conclusion, in recent years, the number of public holidays in Romania has increased significantly, and our country now ranks 5th in Europe in terms of public holidays granted to employees. So, don't forget to organize your time off in 2025 to take full advantage of every opportunity to relax and reconnect.