Polish employment law is being changed. With the new law, the legislator wants to eliminate unequal treatment when terminating fixed-term employment contracts compared to permanent contracts. The Ecovis experts know what companies must consider in the future.

The Polish Ministry of Family and Social Policy is currently preparing an amendment to the employment law to adapt the existing regulations to Directive (EU) 2019/1152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union (OJ L 2019 No 186, p. 105). The amendment addresses three main issues.

Employers must justify terminations

Firstly and most importantly, employers will be required to provide grounds for the termination of fixed-term employment contracts; currently, this only applies to the termination of indefinite contracts. If grounds are not given, or they are deemed insufficient, the employee concerned may bring a claim and the employment court may declare the termination ineffective. If the employment contract has already been terminated, the court may order reinstatement or compensation. From a practical perspective, this means that such contracts cannot be terminated without cause.

We can support you in implementing the new employment law regulations in your contracts.

Michał Sobolewski, Trainee Attorney-at-Law, ECOVIS LEGAL POLAND Law & Tax, Warsaw, Poland

Trade unions must be informed of dismissals

An extra form of protection for anyone employed on a fixed-term contract is that the employer will be required to notify the trade union representing the employee about any intention to terminate their employment contract, providing the grounds for the termination. Currently, this also only applies to indefinite employment contracts.

Permanent employees can sue for reinstatement

The third issue concerns the possibility of reinstatement where the court declares that a termination is unfair or contrary to the applicable laws. Under the current regime, claims for reinstatement may only be made by people employed for an indefinite term.

The amendments will undoubtedly provide more protection for employees under fixed-term contracts. When terminating such contracts, employers will be required to comply with the new requirements, or they may face the negative consequences of claims made by employees.

For further information please contact:

Michał Sobolewski, Trainee Attorney-at-Law, ECOVIS LEGAL POLAND Multan, Pruś and Partners Law & Tax Firm, Warsaw, Poland
Email: warsaw-law@ecovis.pl