The new employee entitlements bring further obligations for employers. Some of them are so material that will require employers to lay the groundwork even before the changes become effective. – Karolina Kanclerz comments for Rzeczpospolita.
Article: here.
Together with our Littler colleagues, we have created a short guide with a focus on The Directive (EU) 2019/1152 on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions in the European Union is hereinafter called “EU Working Conditions Directive”.
Poland (current as of July 2022).
If you would like to receive a full copy of this report, please get in touch with your usual contact at PCS | Littler or write at: perspektywyhr@pcslegal.pl
As of tomorrow, July 29, a new regulation of the Minister of Family and Social Policy on work permits and declarations on entrusting of work to foreigners will come into effect.
The new regulation refers in large part to the regulations currently in force, but it also contains solutions to make it easier for administrative bodies to carry out procedures for issuing work permits and entering declarations of entrustment of work to foreigners in the register of declarations. In addition, the new provisions clarify some issues concerning these proceedings, taking into account other regulations on the employment of foreigners or the needs of practice.
Unfortunately for employers and their attorneys, however, the new regulation may pose a serious organizational problem. In some cases, they will be forced to prepare new application forms and gather additional documentation to obtain the relevant permits.
The most significant changes introduced by the new regulation are presented below.
1.Clarification of the method of submitting applications for work permits, extending such permits and declarations on entrusting work to a foreigner in electronic form. It will be possible only through the IT system referred to in art. 4 sec. 1 point 8 of the Act on employment promotion and labor market institutions – currently this system is available on the praca.gov.pl portal (other options, e.g. submitting an application or declaration via the electronic inbox of a competent authority will not be possible).
2. Amendments to the procedure for issuing Labour Market Test (LMT), including:
3. Defining a new application form for a work permit. The new form provides for the requirement to provide new data, including:
4. Defining a new model of an application for an extension of work permits. The form changes significantly. The scope of data necessary to complete it has been significantly extended and in practice it will correspond to the model application for a work permit.
5. Specifying a new model of declarations on entrusting work to a foreigner. New model:
6. Changes to the so-called criminal declarations related to work permits, extensions of such permits and statements on entrusting work to a foreigner, including:
7. Changes in the required documentation in matters relating to work permits, extensions of such permits and declarations, including:
The existing provisions will apply to procedures initiated and not completed before 29 July 2022. It is also possible to use the LMT issued on the basis of the hitherto provisions for the purposes of new proceedings.
Refugees from Ukraine will be able to travel e.g. between Poland and Ukraine or within the Schengen area. In some cases, foreigners may use previously obtained documents and do not have to visit the authorities again.
Poland notified the European Commission of two types of documents, which are therefore treated by other EU Member States as documents enabling their holders to travel.
Polish residence permits that will allow travelling are:
The above documents can be used to cross the external borders of the European Union and internal borders of Schengen zone.
The maximum period of stay in the countries of Schengen area (other than Poland) on the basis of these documents is up to 90 days (counting in the last 180 days). The stay in Poland is not included in this period. This is the same period of stay in other Schengen countries as for foreigners who have standard Polish residence cards.
We informed about what an electronic document is and how to obtain it in an earlier entry here.
However, the electronic document is only available to adults. This means that children under the age of 18 are not able to travel based on it. We hope that the government will work out a solution for this in the near future.
The above problem does not apply to certificates of using temporary protection. They are issued to foreigners regardless of their age. However, obtaining this certificate is limited mainly to citizens of countries other than Ukraine who previously resided in Ukrainian territory on the basis of e.g. permanent residence permit.
The Polish Border Guard emphasizes that foreigners should also hold a valid passport when traveling. This may be another problem for Ukrainians. Many of them left for Poland in a hurry, e.g. with an expired passport.
EU regulations also require that a passport of the traveller was issued no earlier than 10 years earlier. Many Ukrainian citizens did not have opportunity to obtain a new document. They chose to extend their passport in an Ukrainian consulate. Their passports may therefore be valid, but older than 10 years at the same time.
It is not known how other Schengen states will enforce the requirement on age of passport. In the past, the European Commission issued guidelines to EU member states to limit formalism in the treatment of refugees from Ukraine. We hope that similar guidelines will also be issued for person who would like to travel on the basis of a passport older than 10 years.
If providing ‘redundancy’ as a reason for termination without any further explanation would be enough, it would mean that employee protection exists only on paper. Courts can examine whether such job redundancy was the actual reason for termination, so it is better to give a genuine reason. – Sławomir Paruch and Ilona Zacharska comment for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
Article: here.
Employers should be aware that, depending on the circumstances of a given case, the legality of entrusting work to a non-national may be questioned. This is because contracts concluded with non-nationals are subject to additional requirements under immigration law. – Kinga Polewka-Włoch and Marcin Snarski comment for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
Article: here.
The guide includes labor & employment law updates from around the globe.
In publication you will find the following HR & legal updates:
Littler Global Guide – Poland – Q2 2022.
If you would like to receive a full copy of this report, please get in touch with your usual contact at PCS | Littler or write at: perspektywyhr@pcslegal.pl
In the face of new developments in the labour market, such as remote and platform working, the ministry’s proposal is a step backwards. Employers need flexibility in securing staff to handle assignments, regardless of whether they will be carried out by Poles or foreign nationals – Karolina Schiffter comments for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
Full article: here.
Ukrainian citizens who came to Poland in connection with the war often do not have possibility of traveling. They do not receive documents (such as a residence card) that are necessary to cross the Polish border. This is about to change soon. The government is working on making travel possible on the basis of an electronic document.
Ukrainian citizens who have registered with the municipal administration as refugees (covered by the so-called Special Bill) have the option of using an electronic identity document on their phone. It is an additional service available in the Polish mObywatel application. The planned change consists in extending the scope of functions of this document to the possibility of using it when crossing the border.
It is also planned that Poland will notify usage of this document to the European Commission. In this way, an electronic document (shown on the phone) will replace e.g. Polish visa for refugees from Ukraine. The electronic document itself will then enable them to travel to other countries of the Schengen area.
Ukrainian citizens who stay in Poland on the basis of the Special Bill should create an ePUAP profile. The ePUAP profile is required to log in to the mObywatel application and to start the electronic identity document service.
For persons who have not yet registered as refugees at the municipal administration, it is possible to create a profile during the registration procedure. For this purpose, the registration form contains additional fields to be completed. Refugees from Ukraine who did not set up an ePUAP profile beforehand can do it separately. To do this, you will need to visit the municipal administration again.
The new solution has no official date of entry into force. It is planned to proceed with the new solution quickly, therefore it may be introduced in the coming days.
In some companies, fathers who want to use parental leave are still frowned upon because that’s “a mother thing”. The planned legislation changes may have some impact on reinforcing the father’s role in childcare and combining work and family life more smoothly, but we would not expect a big revolution. – Karolina Schiffter and Bartosz Tomanek comment for the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
Article: here.