Forms of Co-operation – Employment and Civil Law Contracts

In Poland, there is no legal distinction between blue-collar and white-collar workers; the same employment conditions apply to both categories if engaged under employment contracts. However, in practice, more white-collar employees than blue-collar workers are hired under alternative forms of engagement recognised by Polish law ‒ namely, civil law contracts.

The most common types of civil law contracts are:

• contract of mandate – this contract should be used for casual assignments where the contractor is not strictly supervised and the focus is on performing specific services rather than achieving a particular result (in practice, students are often engaged under mandate contracts);
• B2B contract (contract with self-employed individual) – this is common for professionals operating as sole traders, particularly in the IT industry, where a self-employed individual provides services under a business-to-business agreement; and
• contract for specific work – this contract is outcome-oriented and should be used when a contractor is hired to complete a defined task or project.

Choosing the Right Contract Type

The choice between an employment contract and a civil law contract should align with the nature of the work. Employment contracts are suitable when the work is performed under the employer’s supervision, at a designated place and time. In contrast, civil law contracts offer greater freedom in how, where and when services are rendered – making them ideal for more independent contractors.

Risk of Reclassification

Employers often favour civil law contracts owing to the lower tax and social security obligations and the absence of employee-friendly labour code protections such as overtime pay, holiday entitlement, and termination safeguards. However, if a civil law contract is performed under conditions typical for employment (eg, fixed place and hours, employer’s supervision), it risks being reclassified as an employment contract as a result of the contractor’s lawsuit or labour inspector’s request filed with a court. In such cases, employers may face retrospective liabilities, including unpaid employment benefits for up to three years and outstanding tax and social security contributions for up to five years.

Types of Employment Contracts

Most typical employment contracts are as follows.

• Employment contracts for a trial period – these are intended to allow employers to evaluate a new employee’s suitability for a permanent role and can last from one to three months, depending on the duration of the subsequent contract that the parties plan to sign.
• Employment contracts for a definite term – these are fixed-term contracts that terminate upon the lapse of the period for which they were concluded (no termination notice is necessary). As a rule, employment under a definite period contract cannot exceed 33 months and the total number of definite period contracts between the same employer and employee is capped at three. If the total duration of employment under definite-term contracts exceeds 33 months or if a fourth fixed-term contract is signed, employment is automatically deemed to be under an indefinite-term contract from the day following the end of the 33-month period or the date of signing the fourth contract (whichever comes first).
• Employment contracts for an indefinite term – these contracts provide the most job security. In practice, employees in senior positions often bypass the trial period stage and are offered indefinite-term contracts from the start date, which is considered to be a sign-on incentive.

Form and Language Requirements for Employment Contracts

Employment contracts must be concluded in writing and be in Polish (or at least in a bilingual Polish–foreign language version). Written form is considered a wet-ink signature or a qualified electronic signature. Not all e-signatures are considered qualified electronic signatures under the Polish law (eg, a DocuSign signature does not equal written form). Thus, it is important to only use signatures approved by the Polish National Certification Centre.

Mandatory Terms in Employment Contracts

An employment contract should include:

• the parties to the contract, including the employer’s registered office address;
• the type of the contract (trial, definite or indefinite period);
• the date of contract conclusion;
• work and remuneration conditions, including job position, place of work, remuneration, start date and provisions regarding the duration of the trial or definite-term contract if such contract is to be concluded.

Working Time Norms and Systems

The general rule is that working time should not exceed eight hours per day and an average of 40 hours per week over a five-day work week within a reference period not exceeding four months.

Employees often work in a basic system, typically from 9am to 5pm. A task-specific working time system is also popular in Poland, particularly in creative professions. In this system, employees are not required to work strictly fixed hours but can decide how to distribute their tasks throughout the day, unless certain tasks must be completed at specific times (eg, business meetings).

Another time system commonly used in Poland, especially in fields where physical work is required, is the balanced working time system. Daily working time in this system may be extended up to 12 hours if it is balanced to an average 40 hours per week by shorter workdays or days off over a settlement period (typically one to three months, which can be further extended to 12 months under certain conditions provided for in the Labour Code).

Employers may also implement a flexible working time system, allowing employees to decide when to start work within a specified interval (eg, between 7am and 10am).

Overtime Work

Overtime must be compensated, with some exceptions for managers. For each hour of overtime, employees are entitled to their hourly rate plus a 50% overtime premium, or a 100% premium for overtime on Sundays and at night. Employers may offer time off in lieu of overtime. If the employer initiates the time off, it is calculated at one-and-a-half times the number of overtime hours worked. If the employee requests time off, it is granted at the same rate as the overtime hours worked (1:1).

Minimum Wage

The minimum wage is established every year by the government. The trend in recent years has been to increase the minimum wage twice a year (in both 2023 and 2024, the increase took place in January and July). At the beginning of 2024, there was a record increase in the minimum wage – from PLN3,600 to PLN4,242. From 1 July 2024, the minimum wage is PLN4,300 and the minimum hourly rate is PLN28.10.

Market Practice

In industries where qualified employees are hard to find, salaries are at a level much higher than minimum wage. Companies often offer employees bonuses based on achieving specific goals. Annual bonuses are most common, but companies also provide monthly or quarterly bonuses. Some companies also provide employees – in particular, key personnel and senior managers – with the opportunity to participate in long-term incentive plans, in which company shares are awarded.

13th-Month Payment

The 13th-month payment is an additional salary. It is paid to employees from the public sector once a year. This concerns, for example, teachers and employees of state and local government offices. The amount of the payment is 8.5% of the total salary that the employee received during the calendar year.

Vacation Pay

Employees are entitled to vacation pay – the amount of which should generally correspond to their regulator salary. Thus, when calculating holiday pay, both fixed and variable remuneration components (such as bonuses) are taken into account. The specific rules for determining the amount of holiday pay are outlined in the Ordinance of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy.

Employee Liability

Employee liability can be divided into several categories and includes employee accountability (concerning violations of employee duties), material liability (concerning damage caused to the employer) and liability for entrusted property (where the employee is fully responsible for the property entrusted to them by the employer).

Liability for damage caused to the employer is generally limited to the amount of the employee’s three-month remuneration. An exception to this rule applies in cases of intentional damage, where the employee is liable for the full extent of the damage. These principles apply only during the period of employment. If an employee breaches post-termination obligations, such as a non-compete ban, they are responsible for the full extent of the damage under the rules of the Polish Civil Code.

Contractual Penalties

According to Supreme Court case law, the principles of employee liability under the Labour Code are exhaustive when it comes to compensation for damage caused to the employer. This means that employment contracts cannot include provisions on contractual penalties for breaches of the employee’s duties during the employment period. However, this restriction applies only during the term of employment. Contractual penalties may still be introduced for breaches of post-termination obligations, such as non-compete or confidentiality agreements.

Non-compete Clauses

Following amendments to the Labour Code in 2023, employers are generally prohibited from restricting employees from engaging in additional activities (so no exclusivity clauses) except for prohibition of competitive activity, which is allowed.

For a non-compete clause to be valid, it must be included in an agreement with the employee, either as part of the employment contract or in a separate document. A non-compete clause can apply during the term of employment and also after its termination. In the latter case, the agreement must specify duration of the non-compete clause and the compensation due to the employee for adhering to it.

The statutory minimum compensation is 25% of the employee’s remuneration (including certain bonuses) received during the period prior to the termination of employment that corresponds to the length of the post-termination non-compete clause. Employees, particularly those in senior positions, often expect compensation higher than the statutory minimum – typically ranging from 50% to 100% for key personnel.

No Mandatory Compensation in the Case of Civil Law Contracts

In the case of civil law contracts, there is no statutory requirement to provide compensation, but case law is quite divergent in this regard. One case law interpretation is that failing to provide compensation for a post-termination non-compete obligation may be deemed incompliant with the rules of social co-existence thus rendering the non-compete clause invalid.

Right to Waive the Post-termination Non-compete

It is crucial to include in the non-compete agreement provisions that allow the employer to unilaterally waive the post-termination non-compete obligation such as the right to withdraw from the post-termination non-compete obligation and the right to terminate it with notice. This ensures that if the employer decides not to enforce the restrictions, no costs related to the non-compete will be due.

Statutory Provisions

Issues related to non-solicitation of employees and customers are regulated by the Law on Unfair Competition. Under this law, it is unlawful to solicit an employee to neglect or improperly perform their duties ‒ or to solicit customers to terminate or fail to perform a contract with a business – with the intent to gain benefits or harm the business.

Non-solicitation Provisions in Contracts With Employees

In addition to the statutory provisions, it is advisable to include non-solicitation clauses in employment contracts, particularly with key employees. This helps protect the company’s interests in case of a breach. Such clauses can clearly outline prohibited actions and allow the company to impose contractual penalties for violations occurring after employment ends.

If a contractual penalty is specified in the contract, the company does not need to prove the extent of the damages. The mere breach of the non-solicitation clause by the former employee obliges them to pay the stipulated penalty. Moreover, if the contract is properly drafted, establishing a penalty does not prevent the company from claiming additional compensation if the actual damage exceeds the penalty amount.

In practice, post-termination non-solicitation clauses typically last between six and 24 months, depending on the employee’s role. Importantly, unlike non-compete clauses, employees are not entitled to receive compensation for complying with a non-solicitation ban.

Main Legal Acts Regulating Data Privacy

Data privacy in the employment sphere is primarily governed by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Polish Labour Code. According to the Labour Code, the scope of data that an employer may require is generally limited to basic information such as name, date of birth, job qualifications, and education.

An employer may request the candidate or employee to disclose personal data beyond what is stipulated by the Labour Code if such data is necessary to exercise a right or fulfil an obligation under the law. By way of example, if the law requires a clean criminal record for certain positions (eg, for management board members concerning specific white-collar crimes), the employer may request this information.

With the candidate’s or employee’s consent, an employer may also process personal data beyond that specified in the Labour Code, except for data on judgments, convictions, and prohibited acts (ie, criminal records).

Standpoint of Polish Data Protection Authority

The Polish Data Protection Authority’s approach to processing candidate and employee data has been quite restrictive. By way of example, in an employer handbook issued in 2018, the authority stated that the candidate should be the primary source of information in the recruitment process and that – as a rule – background screening is not permitted.

However, following recent changes in the position of the President of the Polish Data Protection Authority, the authority appears to be adopting a more liberal and favourable stance towards employers. The authority is also working on updating the employer handbook, including with answers to the most pressing questions regarding data processing.

Overview of Foreign Worker Limitations

The employment of foreign workers in Poland is subject to regulations ensuring both the legality of the foreign worker’s employment and their residence. Employers must not only verify that foreign workers have the right to work in Poland but also that they reside legally within the country. Compliance with these requirements is crucial for both the employer and the foreign employee to avoid legal sanctions.

Legalisation of Work

The responsibility for legalising the employment of foreign workers primarily falls on the employer. Employers must secure a work permit for a foreign worker, which is a document certifying the foreigner’s right to work in Poland. Work permits are generally issued for a maximum of three years – although first permits often cover shorter periods (typically one year). Employers must apply for a work permit through the relevant Province office (the regional authority) competent for the employer’s registered office. Processing times can vary – for example, as of mid-2024, the approximate waiting time in Warsaw was around three months. As a work permit should be in place before a foreigner commences work, employers should account for these waiting periods and apply for a work permit well in advance of the proposed start date to ensure compliance.

There are different types of work permits depending on the nature of the job and the country of the employer’s registered office. These include permits for direct employment in Poland, seasonal work, assignments to Poland, and management board members of Polish companies (under certain circumstances).

Simplified Procedures for Certain Nationalities

Certain nationalities benefit from simplified procedures. Citizens of Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine can work for up to 24 months in Poland under a declaration of entrusting work to a foreigner, issued by local labour offices. This process is significantly shorter than the standard work permit, as it typically takes about two weeks and does not require a preliminary labour market test (where employers must demonstrate that no qualified Polish nationals are available for the job).

In response to the Russian aggression in Ukraine, Poland introduced special provisions allowing Ukrainian nationals to work based on a notification filed by the employer within seven days of the Ukrainian worker commencing employment. This adjustment aims to support the rapid integration of Ukrainian refugees into the Polish labour market.

Legalisation of Stay

Employers are responsible for verifying foreign workers’ residence in Poland – although the process of legalising residence is performed by the foreigners themselves. Under Polish law, foreign workers need a valid reason to reside in the country, with employment being a common justification. However, it is advisable to check whether there are other possible grounds for residence, as holding certain residence permits can exempt employers from obtaining a work permit (eg, residence permits related to marriage to a Polish citizen, residence with an EU, European Economic Area (EEA) or Swiss family member, or studying at a university in Poland).

Foreign workers can legalise their stay through residence permits or visas. Residence permit applications must be submitted to the appropriate Province office by the foreign worker no later than on the last day of their legal stay in Poland. Residence permits are granted for up to three years, typically aligned with the duration of the work permit. Waiting times for these permits, including scheduling appointments, vary by office. As of mid-2024, the waiting time in Warsaw is approximately five months – although in other regions, it could exceed a year. If the application is submitted during a legal stay and without formal deficiencies (or if the deficiencies are corrected in time), the applicant’s stay is considered legal until a decision is made.

Long-Term Visa Applications

Foreign workers can also apply for a long-term national visa (Type D), valid for one year, through a Polish consulate in their home country. Before applying for a visa for employment purposes, foreign workers must first secure a work permit. The time required to obtain a visa, including scheduling a consular appointment, depends on the specific consulate’s workload and processing capacity.

Please see 4.1 Limitations on Foreign Workers.

Remote Work Implementation

If a company uses remote work on a regular basis (ie, more than 24 days per year), the Labour Code requires that the rules for remote work be established either in collective remote work rules (applicable to all employees) or in individual agreements with each employee. The employer has the discretion to choose which option to implement.

The downside of the first option is that collective rules need to be consulted with employee representatives. On the other hand, if remote work is used by a larger group of employees, negotiating individual agreements with each employee may be more time-consuming. Additionally, in the second scenario, employees may have more room for negotiation, in contrast to collective remote work rules where the terms are uniform for all employees and only require consultation with employee representatives.

Health and Safety Requirements in Case of Remote Work

Both above-mentioned documents must include, among other things, the rules for conducting health and safety inspections. Such inspections can be carried out online (eg, during a Teams meeting with an Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) specialist) or on-site.

In terms of health and safety, employees must also be informed about the occupational risk assessment and the guidelines for safe and healthy remote work. In practice, respective documents are typically prepared by specialised OHS firms.

Remote Work and Personal Data Protection

The remote work rules or individual agreements must also specify procedures for the protection of personal data. This can include obligations such as locking access to the computer and other work equipment, following a clean desk policy, and securing documents against unauthorised access by third parties, including household members.

Sabbatical Leave ‒ Regulations

The concept of sabbatical leave – which generally refers to a prolonged period of leave granted to employees for rest, research, or personal development – is not regulated by the Polish Labour Code. Therefore, there are no strictly defined dimensions or time limits for this type of leave.

If an employer decides to grant such leave, it is determined by internal company policy or agreed upon individually with the employee. Sabbatical leave can be either paid or unpaid, with unpaid leave being more common in Poland.

Sabbatical Leave ‒ Market Practice

Even though employers are increasingly beginning to recognise the potential of sabbatical leave, it is not yet a common practice in Poland.

Sabbatical leave is most often taken by experienced employees with long service or by specialists with niche competencies, often in managerial positions. The primary purpose of granting this leave is to avoid professional burnout and excessive fatigue, and to allow personal development.

Typically, sabbatical leave covers longer periods, such as several months or even up to a year. It is granted in addition to the statutory vacation entitlement of 20 or 26 days per year.

Four-Day Working Week: An Emerging Trend

The concept of a four-day working week is gaining traction in Poland as a progressive approach to work organisation, promising an enhanced work‒life balance and increased productivity. Traditionally, this concept involves condensing the standard 40-hour working week into four days. However, Polish employers are exploring various solutions to make work more flexible, reflecting a broader trend towards innovative work arrangements.

Current Developments in Poland

In recent years, Polish employers have shown increasing interest in the idea of a four-day working week, as flexible work organisation consistently emerges as the number one employee benefit in market studies. Various organisations are conducting pilot programmes to test such flexible work arrangements. These pilots often explore different configurations, such as making Fridays entirely free, reducing the number of hours worked on Fridays, or changing the nature of work on Fridays to focus on training and administrative tasks rather than significant work. The trials aim to understand how reduced working hours affect productivity, employee well-being, and overall business performance.

Benefits and Challenges

Adopting a four-day working week offers several advantages. Employees typically experience an improved work‒life balance, leading to lower stress levels and reduced burnout. This model can also contribute to higher job satisfaction and lower absenteeism. Moreover, some studies suggest that productivity can remain stable or even improve when work is concentrated into fewer days.

Despite its benefits, transitioning to a four-day working week involves certain challenges. Companies must ensure that operational efficiency and customer service standards are maintained. Adjusting work processes to fit a compressed schedule requires careful planning and may involve rethinking workflows and resource allocation.

Trade Union Establishment

A trade union in Poland can be established by a group of at least ten individuals, either employees or persons employed under civil law contracts. To legally establish a trade union, certain steps must be followed, including adopting a resolution to form the union, drafting the union’s statutes, electing the founding committee, and registering the union in the national court register.

Most typically, trade unions are not established in the new technology sector but in “old” industries and sectors such as energy, mining, education, public administration, and health.

Rights of Trade Unions

The main role of trade unions is to represent and defend the professional and social rights and interests of employees. The presence of a trade union means that the employer must co-operate with the union in various situations, such as when establishing or amending work and pay regulations or introducing a whistle-blowing procedure or remote work rules. Trade unions also have the right to initiate a collective dispute, which can even lead to strike action within the company.

Obligations of Trade Unions

One of the key obligations of a trade union towards the employer is to report its membership numbers twice a year, by June 10 and July 10. If the trade union fails to provide this information, it loses the rights and privileges of a company trade union organisation. These rights and privileges can only be regained after the union submits the required membership information.

Works Council

When an employer reaches an employment level of 50 employees, it is required to inform the employees about the possibility of forming a works council. However, establishing this body requires employee involvement, as the election of the works council is organised upon the written request of at least 10% of employees. If the council is established, the employer is obliged to inform and consult the council on certain matters, such as the company’s economic situation and employment structure. However, works councils are not very common in Poland.

Employee Representatives

There is no obligation to permanently elect employee representatives, regardless of the employment level. However, in certain cases, legal provisions require employers to inform, consult, or agree on certain matters with employee representatives elected according to a procedure adopted by the employer. By way of example, the law mandates that remote work rules and whistle-blowing procedures be consulted with employee representatives.

Some employers choose to elect such representatives on an ad hoc basis for a specific purpose when regulations require information or consultation. Others opt to elect permanent representatives for all possible purposes stipulated by the regulations. The advantage of this approach is that when time is of the essence in introducing or amending internal regulations, the requirement to inform or consult representatives can be quickly met without the need to organise elections.

Collective Bargaining Agreements

Collective agreements are a type of social agreement negotiated between employers and employees, represented by trade unions. Therefore, a collective bargaining agreement can only be concluded in a workplace where trade unions are present.

In collective bargaining agreements, employees – represented by trade unions – and employers can agree on working conditions that differ from those in the Labour Code. Such agreements allow for payment and reward systems to be better tailored to the specific operations of the company. However, the terms of the agreement cannot be less favourable to employees than those outlined in the Labour Code and other laws. In practice, collective bargaining agreements often include more favourable conditions, such as higher overtime compensation rates or additional benefits such as long-service awards.

Poland is obliged to implement Directive 2022/2041 of the European Parliament, the main aim of which is that EU member states will create and promote conditions for social partners to engage in bargaining. The Polish government is currently working on the draft of the new regulations. The assumptions of the new bill presented by the government include:

• electronic registration of bargaining agreements in the form of entries in the National Register of Collective Bargaining Agreements (currently, collective bargaining agreements are filed in hard copies, in accordance with the procedure set out in the Ordinance on the registration procedure for collective bargaining agreements);
• the possibility of employing a mediator at the negotiation stage to help the parties reach an agreement; and
• setting a predefined term for collective bargaining agreements (five years for intracompany agreements and ten years for intercompany agreements).

Possible Ways of Termination of Employment

An employment contract can be terminated:

• by one party giving notice;
• by one party terminating the contract without notice in cases specified in the Polish Labour Code (eg, disciplinary dismissal); or
• by mutual agreement.

Formal Requirements

A statement on termination must be in written form (for the written form requirement, please refer to 1.2 Employment Contracts). The document can be delivered to the employee in person or electronically (eg, via email during an online meeting).

The employer must provide a reason for termination when giving notice on fixed or indefinite term contracts and, in cases of termination without notice, regardless of contract type. The reason should be real, true, concrete, understandable to the employee, and as precise as possible. It is advisable to gather evidence (eg, documentation of underperformance) to support the reason for termination in case of potential litigation.

If there are trade unions in the company, the employer must consult the trade unions before terminating the employment with the employee represented by the trade union.

Collective Redundancies

The collective redundancy procedure applies if, within a 30-day period, an employer with at least 20 employees terminates contracts with:

• ten employees (if the company has fewer than 100 employees);
• 10% of employees (if the company has between 100 and 299 employees); or
• 30 employees (if the company has 300 or more employees).

In such cases, the employer must notify the trade unions or employee representatives, establish regulations for collective redundancies, and inform the district labour office. Employees are entitled to severance payments ranging from one to three times their monthly salary, capped at 15 times the statutory minimum wage. More generous terms of severance payment may result from the company’s internal regulations such as remuneration rules or collective agreements with trade unions or even from individual contracts with the employees. Trade unions may play a significant role in the redundancy process.

Effective internal and external communication is crucial to maintaining the employer’s reputation during the redundancy process.

Notice Periods

Unless otherwise agreed in the employment contract, statutory notice periods apply. The notice period for the employer agreed in the employment contract cannot be shorter than the statutory notice period.

Statutory notice periods depend on the type of contract and the length of employment with the given employer. For fixed-term and indefinite-term contracts, the statutory notice periods are as follows:

• if the employee has been employed for less than six months, the notice period is two weeks;
• if the employee has been employed for less than three years, the notice period is one month; and
• if the employee has been employed for at least three years, the notice period is three months.

In the case of redundancies (termination due to reasons not attributable to the employee), the employer may shorten the three-month notice period to no less than one month. In such cases, the employee is entitled to compensation equal to the remuneration for the remaining notice period.

After the employer has given notice, the parties may mutually agree to shorten the notice period.

Payment for Notice Period

If an employee works during the notice period, their remuneration is calculated as it would be during the standard period of employment. In other words, the employee retains the right to their usual pay according to the terms of their employment contract and the applicable internal regulations.

However, the employer may unilaterally release the employee from work during the notice period (“garden leave”). In this case, the employee is entitled to remuneration calculated in the same way as to holiday pay.

The employee is also entitled to a cash equivalent for any unused holiday. To avoid this cost, the employer may require the employee to use any remaining holiday leave during the notice period.

Grounds for Disciplinary Dismissal

Under Polish law, the employer may terminate the employment contract without notice owing to an employee’s fault (disciplinary dismissal) in the following cases:

• serious breach by the employee of their basic duties (including, in particular, to act in the best interests of the employer, adhere to health and safety rules, and respect business confidentiality);
• a criminal offence committed by the employee during the term of their employment that prevents their further employment in the current position if the offence is obvious or declared by a court in a final and non-appealable judgment; or
• loss of the licence necessary to perform work in the current position due to the fault of the employee.

Time Limit and Consultation With Trade Unions

The deadline for disciplinary termination is one month from the date when the employer became aware of the circumstances that constitute the reason for the termination. According to the Supreme Court’s case law, if an employer conducts an internal investigation to determine whether an employee committed a violation, the one-month period starts from the date the investigation is completed.

If there are trade unions in the company, the employer must consult the trade unions before terminating the employment of an employee represented by the trade union.

Termination Agreements

Termination agreements are commonly used in Poland, allowing flexibility for both employers and employees in shaping the terms of termination, such as choosing the termination date (which can coincide with the agreement’s conclusion) or providing additional payments to employees.

In practice, employers often provide employees with a termination notice and simultaneously offer the option to change the form of termination to mutual agreement, giving the employee time to decide. If the employee decides to conclude the termination agreement, it should include provisions on the employer withdrawing the termination notice and the employee’s consent for this, and on changing the manner of termination to mutual agreement.

Terminating the contract by mutual agreement mitigates the risk of the employee taking legal action, as such agreements include a waiver of claims against the employer. To encourage the employee to sign the termination agreement, employers often decide to provide additional benefits in such termination agreement (eg, financing outplacement services or payment of additional severance pay). Mutual termination agreements are also beneficial for employees, as in such case the work certificate includes information that the employment was terminated by agreement instead of unilateral termination by the employer, which may be viewed unfavourably by future employers.

The Labour Code does not impose an obligation to draw up a termination agreement in writing. In practice, such requirement may result from the employment contract ‒ ie, if the employment contract states that any changes to it must be made in writing otherwise. Regardless of the foregoing, it is recommended to have the termination agreement in writing for evidence purposes and to safeguard against potential disputes that may arise in the future.

Employees Protected Against Termination

The Polish Labour Code ensures extensive protection against termination of employment to a wide range of employees. The most significant categories of employees protected against termination of employment are as follows.

• Pregnant employees – protection extends to situations where an employee discovers the pregnancy after receiving the termination notice.
• Employees on child-related leave – this includes employees on maternity, paternity, and parental leave. Employees applying for these types of leave are protected from the time they submit their application until the end of the leave period and are guaranteed their previous or equivalent position after their return to work.
• Employees during justified absence – this covers those on holiday leave or sick leave until their contracts can be terminated without notice in accordance with the Labour Code provisions.
• Pre-retirement-age employees – this envisages employees who are within four years of reaching retirement age, which is 60 for women and 65 for men.
• Trade union and works council members – this includes active trade union and works council members. However, employee representatives elected for various purposes as required by the labour code (e consultation of remote work rules or social benefit fund rules) are not protected.
• Whistle-blowers – protection against employer retaliation towards whistle-blowers will apply from 25 September 2024 when the Polish Act on the Protection of Whistle-Blowers comes into force.

Employee’s Potential Claims Relating to Termination

An employee may appeal to the labour court against a notice of termination or termination without notice. If the termination is deemed unjustified (eg, the reason for termination was superficial) or unlawful (eg, the employee was protected against termination), the employee is entitled to claim either reinstatement to their job or compensation. The choice of remedy is at the employee’s discretion.

Employees are now exempt from fees for employment-related lawsuits. This has led to an increase in the number of appeals against termination, even when the claims may be unfounded.

Compensation

The amount of compensation to be awarded by the court cannot exceed three months’ remuneration of the employee and cannot be lower than remuneration for the notice period of the given employee. In cases involving fixed-term contracts that end before the court’s decision or where reinstatement is impractical owing to the short remaining contract term, compensation is limited to the amount due until the contract’s end, but not exceeding three months.

Reinstatement

If an employee is reinstated by the court, they are entitled to remuneration for the period they were out of work – albeit no more than two months’ remuneration ‒ and, if the notice period was three months, then no more than one month’s remuneration. Employees protected against termination (eg, pregnant women) are entitled to remuneration for the entire period they were out of work.

Please also refer to 9.1 Litigation (New Legislation on Reinstatement of Employees).

Forms of Discrimination

Discrimination in employment can manifest in two forms – namely, direct and indirect.

• Direct discrimination occurs when an employee is treated less favourably specifically because of a protected characteristic, such as gender, age, disability, race, religion, nationality, political beliefs, union membership, or sexual orientation.
• Indirect discrimination happens when seemingly neutral rules, criteria, or practices disproportionately disadvantage certain groups – for example, offering an additional day off exclusively to married employees could be considered indirect discrimination.

Discrimination can occur both during recruitment (eg, “We rejected your application because, in our experience, men – who have more analytical thinking ability – are better suited to this position”) and during employment (eg, offering training sessions only to full-time employees).

Discrimination Litigation ‒ Burden of Proof and Potential Claims

In discrimination cases, the burden of proof rests with the employer. The employee only needs to establish a prima facie case of discrimination by presenting facts that suggest unequal treatment based on discriminatory grounds. It is then up to the employer to prove that the criteria used were objective, justified, and not discriminatory. This differs from mobbing cases, where the entire burden of proof lies with the employee.

In discrimination cases, the employee may seek compensation. If the court finds the claim justified, the compensation awarded must be at least the minimum monthly wage (currently PLN4,300). There is no upper limit on compensation, meaning the court may grant a higher amount based on the severity of the damage suffered by the employee and on other relevant factors.

There are no special regulations specifically addressing the digitalisation of employment disputes in Poland. The principles governing digitalisation in employment disputes are consistent with those applied to disputes in other legal areas.

Remote Hearings

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, Poland introduced the option of conducting court hearings remotely, including witness hearings. This provision, initially temporary, has since been made permanent and online hearings are now a common practice. Remote hearings offer significant advantages, especially in large corporate groups where the volume of legal proceedings tends to be higher owing to the size of the organisation. In such cases, managers who frequently reside abroad are no longer required to return to Poland to provide testimony. This facilitates greater efficiency and reduces the logistical challenges associated with traditional in-person hearings.

Digital Communication and Documentation

If a party is represented by a legal professional, such as an advocate or attorney-at-law, the court delivers court documents via a dedicated court e-portal. However, despite the use of digital communication for the delivery of court documents, the overall level of digitalisation in legal proceedings (including employment disputes) remains low. The comprehensive documentation required for employment cases must still be presented in physical form to both the court and the opposing party. Documents attached to legal filings must be submitted either in their original form or as copies certified as true by the advocate or attorney-at-law involved in the proceedings. This requirement for physical documentation reflects the limited extent to which digitalisation has been implemented in the handling of employment disputes in Poland.

Specialised Employment Forums

Poland has specialised employment divisions within its courts where judges have expertise in employment and social security matters. Compared to other court forums, the employment divisions generally operate quite efficiently.

Class Action Claims in Employment Disputes

In Poland, employment disputes are typically not handled as class action claims. Class actions are restricted to specific categories of claims, such as those related to torts. Although theoretically it is possible to file a class action in an employment case, this is rarely done in practice. Most employment disputes are initiated by individual employees rather than as collective actions. This individualised approach to employment disputes means that each case is usually assessed and resolved based on its unique circumstances, without the broader applicability required for class actions.

Representation in Employment Disputes

During both the first and second instances of an employment dispute, parties may choose to represent themselves. An employee may also be represented by a trade union representative, a labour inspector, or another employee from the same workplace where the employee is or was employed. However, such representation is uncommon in practice. Employees and employers typically engage legal professionals, such as advocates or attorneys-at-law, to represent their interests. Mandatory representation by a legal professional is required only when filing a cassation appeal (skarga kasacyjna) to the Supreme Court.

New Legislation on Reinstatement of Employees

As of 22 September 2023, a controversial provision on judicial labour disputes entered into force. The provision gives dismissed employees who were subject to special employment protections (please refer to 7.5 Protected Categories of Employee) the opportunity to ask the court to order their former employer to hire them until the case is ultimately decided. Importantly, an employee can make such a request at any stage of the proceedings (ie, during the lawsuit).

All that is needed in order for the court to grant the injunction is for the employee to demonstrate that the claim is plausible. In extreme cases, the court could order reinstatement even before receiving the employer’s position in response to the lawsuit. The court may refuse to grant the injunction only if the employee’s claim is manifestly unfounded. The employer has the right to appeal to the court of the second instance against the decision to grant the injunction (ie, ordering the employer to continue employing the employee). As the provision has been widely criticised owing to the ambiguities associated with its practical application, employers are pinning their hopes on labour courts taking a common-sense approach to the provision and not abusing it.

In Poland, arbitration is legally permitted as a method of resolving employment disputes, but it is not commonly used in practice. One of the reasons for its limited use lies in the specific conditions under which arbitration can be included in employment matters.

According to Polish law, an arbitration agreement related to employment disputes can only be established after a dispute has arisen and it must be agreed in writing (for the written form requirement, please refer to 1.2 Employment Contracts). Consequently, pre-dispute arbitration agreements are not enforceable under Polish law. This requirement is to ensure that employees do not waive their rights to access public courts pre-emptively, which is considered a safeguard for employee rights.

Court Fees for Employees

As of 29 September 2023, employees in Poland are exempt from paying any court fees in employment-related lawsuits, regardless of the value of the claim. Prior to this change, employees were required to pay a court fee if the value of the claim exceeded PLN50,000, calculated at 5% of the claim’s value. The abolition of all court fees for employment-related lawsuits led to an increase in the number of such cases.

Attorney’s Fees

In Polish employment disputes, the prevailing party – whether the employee or employer – may be awarded attorney’s fees. However, these fees are awarded at a flat rate, which is relatively low. By way of example, the statutory minimum attorney’s fee in a case concerning reinstatement to work is PLN180. Even though courts have the discretion to award attorney’s fees above the minimum statutory rate under certain circumstances, such awards cannot exceed six times the minimum rate, nor can they surpass the total value of the claim. Consequently, the capped and low amounts awarded do not compensate for the actual legal expenses incurred.