The changes in the area of conclusion and termination of employment contracts in Poland, which come into force on April 26th, 2023

The changes in the area of conclusion and termination of employment contracts in Poland, which come into force on April 26^th, 2023:

 

1. The employer's previous duty to notify the employee after the conclusion of the employment contract is extended and additionally includes in particular information on:
   • employee's rest breaks included in working time,
   • daily and weekly rest periods to which the employee is entitled,
   • rules on overtime and compensation for work during overtime,
   • in case of shift work – the rules on shift changes,
   • in case of multiple workplaces – the rules for relocation between workplaces,
   • remuneration components and benefits in cash or in kind other than those agreed in the employment contract,
   • the length of paid leave to which the employee is entitled, in particular annual leave or an indication of the rules for determining and granting it,
   • in addition to the notice period – the notice rules, the formal requirements, the period for appeal to the Labour Court and, if the length of the notice periods cannot be determined on the day of this notice – the manner of determining such notice periods,
   • the principles of the training policy and the right of access to training, if provided by the employer.

 

2. The 7-day period to fulfill the above-mentioned duty to notify the employee will not be counted from the day of the conclusion of the employment contract as before, but from the day of the employee's admission to work.

 

3. The employer will additionally be obliged to notify about the name of the social security institutions to which social security contributions will be paid, if the employee has not chosen a social security institution – the deadline will be 30 days from the date of admission to work.

 

4. The employer has a duty to notify the employee of a change in the terms and conditions of employment no later than the date on which the change concerns the employee.

 

5. The employer shall also notify the employee of the change of the registered address – not later than within 7 days from the date of the change of address. Lack of notification is considered a violation of the employee's rights.

 

6. The legislator expressly allows the possibility of providing notification to the employee not only in paper form but also in electronic form if the information is accessible to employees with the possibility of printing and storing it and if the employer keeps proof of transmission or proof of receipt of the aforementioned notification by the employee.

 

7. Under the new regulations, an employment contract for a probationary period may be concluded:
   • for a period not exceeding 1 month if the employer then intends to conclude a fixed-term contract of less than 6 months,
   • for a period not exceeding 2 months if the employer then intends to conclude a fixed-term contract of less than 12 months,
   • for a period not exceeding 3 months if the employer then intends to conclude a fixed-term contract of more than 12 months.

 

An employment contract for a probationary period may be extended by the period of leave and other excused absence of the employee if the parties so agree in the probationary contract.

 

An employment contract for a probationary period not exceeding one month and not exceeding two months may be extended by the parties once for a maximum of one month if this is justified by the kind of the work.

 

Subsequent conclusion of an employment contract for a probationary period with the same employee is only permitted for the performance of a different kind of work.

 

8. The change provides for the employee with a fixed-term employment contract of at least 6 months a right to apply once a year for conversion of the contract to a indefinite-term contract, for a change in the kind of the work, for full-time employment.

 

9. The employer is obliged to specify the reason of termination with notice for fixed-term contracts, before this obligation concerned only indefinite-term contracts and only contracts terminated without notice.

 

10. The reason for termination of the contract with notice or without notice may not be:
    • the employee's submission of a request for a change of the contract to the indefinite-term contract (point 8), for a change in the kind of work or for change to full-time employment as referred to above,
    • provision of work to another entity that does not carry out activities in competition with the employer, if specific legislation does not specify restrictions,
    • the employee's pursuit of the employer's provision of information in the above regard,
    • exercising the right to training included in working time and financed by the employer.

 

As of April 7^th, 2023, the reason for ending remote work (home-office) may not be:

• the employee's refusal of consent to the change to remote work or teleworking (home-office) (in case of the employer's initiative),
• request for remote work or teleworking (home-office) by the employee who is entitled to do so (caring for a child up to 4 years of age or a disabled person, pregnant employee),
• submission of a binding request for ending of remote work and return to stationary work (if the change to remote work was based on an agreement of the parties).

 

11. An additional new obligation for the employer is notifying employees of full-time and part-time employment opportunities, promotion opportunities and vacancies. The notification is to be provided in the manner adopted by the employer.

 

⌛ The new duties to notify on the terms and conditions of employment provided after the employee has been admitted to work will apply to employees with whom employment contracts will be concluded from the date of entry into force of the new legislation, i.e. after April 26^th, 2023.

 

⌛ The employer is not obligated to automatically provide to the employee the new and additional information on the terms and conditions of employment, unless the employee submits a request for new information. The above-mentioned applies to employment contracts in force at the date of entry into force of the changes.

 

⌛ The new regulations on terminating contracts with notice will apply to fixed-term contracts terminated as of the effective date of the changes (terminated as of April 26^th, 2023).

 

⌛ Provisions before the change will be applied to the fixed-term employment contracts in force on the date of entry into force of the changes (on April 26^th, 2023) and which have been terminated before April 26^th, 2023.

 

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