2023 was a year of numerous changes in Polish labor law. Some of the new regulations have already come into force, while others will only take effect in 2024. Below, we present a summary of the most important changes in the Polish employment law.
New rules of remote work and work life balance regulations
The most significant changes were related to replacement of telework with remote work and implementation of the so-called work life balance EU directive. New provisions concerning remote work entered into force on April 7, 2023 (while the rules of telework have been removed from the Labour Code six months later). Soon after, on April 26, the regulations resulting from the EU directive came into force as well.
Among others the following new employees’ rights have been introduced:
- Obligation to indicate the reason for terminating a fixed-term employment contract.
- Employee with at least six months’ service has a right to submit once a year an application to change their current contract into an “open-ended” one or for more predictable and secure working conditions, including changing the type of work or full time employment.
- It is not possible anymore to prohibit an employee from taking up parallel employment with other entities (except through non-competition clauses).
- Extended general information obligation – an employer needs to inform all employees about promotion opportunities and vacancies.
- New breaks for employees – if daily working time is longer than 9 hours, an additional 15-minute break (included in the working time) is due and if the daily working time is longer than 16 hours – another such break is due.
- New type of leave from work of 2 days or 16 hours per year, for which an employee is entitled to half salary. It can be used in case of force majeure in urgent family matters caused by illness or accident, if the employee’s immediate presence is necessary.
- New type of leave – carer’s leave of 5 days a year. It is available for the purpose of providing personal support to a family member or person living in the same household who needs it for serious medical reasons.
- Consent needs to be obtained from employees raising a child to work overtime, at night or for delegations outside the permanent place of work. This will apply until the child is 8 years old (not as previously until the child was 4).
- Changes regarding parental leave – the basic period was extended to 41 weeks, with each parent having the exclusive right to 9 weeks of such leave.
- New entitlement of an employee raising a child up to the age of 8 – request for a flexible work organization (including: remote work, interrupted working time system, shortened working week system, weekend working time system, individual working time schedule, flexible working time schedules and reduction of working hours).
- Paternity leave is only granted until the child is 12 months old (and not 24 months old).
- Catalogue of offenses against employee rights was extended – they cover, among others, lack of timely information on conditions of employment, violation of the provisions on flexible work organization, on carers’ leave, regarding the employer’s coverage of training costs.
Changes in OHS regulations
As of November 17, 2023, the regulations on occupational health and safety in positions equipped with screen monitors have changed. The changes may also indirectly impact health and safety instructions for remote workers, which were often based on these regulations. According to the changes:
- If an employee uses a so-called portable system intended for use at a given workstation (e.g. laptop), then such workstation should also include:
Ø a desktop screen monitor or a stand that allows to place the laptop’s screen so that its upper edge is at an employee’s eye level, and
Ø additional keyboard and computer mouse.
- Employees working with screen monitors who, according to their doctor’s recommendations, must wear glasses to perform their job, should be provided with glasses or contact lenses (previously, the only option was glasses).
- The existing duties regarding the equipment of the workplace have been also simplified, e.g.:
Ø the requirement to ensure a specific angle of inclination of the footrest, chair backrest, screen monitor and keyboard has been removed;
Ø a footrest will be provided only upon an employee’s request;
Ø there is no specific limits on the distance of the equipment from an employee (currently: e.g. 40 to 75 cm between an employee’s eyes and a screen);
Ø the requirement to provide a table in a light color has been removed;
Ø the requirements concerning a software have been reduced, e.g. it no longer has to be easy to use or adapted to an employee’s knowledge and experience.
- Job positions created by November 17, 2023 must be adapted to the new requirements by May 17, 2024.
- Job positions created from November 17, 2023 must apply the new requirements right away.
- Note that, if the already existing vacancy was filled after November 17, 2023, the employer may wait up to May 17, 2024 before implementing the new requirements. That said, even newly hired individuals taking up positions on already established workstations can work under the ‘old’ rules until this date, and there is no immediate need to equip existing workstations for them.
Increase of the minimum wage
The minimum wage will increase twice in 2024. From January 1, the lowest salary will be PLN 4,242 (approx. EUR 980), and from July 1- PLN 4,300 (approx. EUR 995).
The increase in the minimum wage will also affect the benefits calculated based on the lowest salary such as for example:
- allowance for night work,
- stoppage allowance,
- minimum compensation for mobbing or discrimination,
- maximum severance pay, in the event of dismissal for reasons unrelated to an employee.
Other upcoming changes for 2024
The above changes are not the only ones waiting for employers in 2024 as the numerous draft laws implementing EU legislation will be possibly adopted next year. The key projects include:
- Act on the protection of whistleblowers – which should have been already adopted since December 2021. The act will establish a legal framework for protection of persons who report or disclose information on a wrongdoing obtained in a work-related context, including setting up easily accessible reporting channels, underlining the obligation to maintain confidentiality and the prohibition of retaliation against whistleblowers.
- Act implementing the Pay Transparency Directive – the directive entered into force on June 6, 2023, but the member states have 3 years to adapt national law to EU regulations. New rules on pay transparency should help to reduce pay discrimination at work and contribute to closing the gender pay gap.
Furthermore, the EU authorities currently work on the Platform Work Directive, which aims to ensure the correct classification of the employment status of people performing platform work and to introduce the EU-rules on algorithmic management and the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace. The provisional agreement on a bill to improve the working conditions of persons performing platform work has been reached on December 13, 2023.
The article was prepared by att. Monika Aniszewska from our Polish member firm Zawirska Ruszczyk.
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