Month: September 2022

The amendment to the Labour Code aimed at implementing the solutions adopted in the work-life-balance directive (European Parliament and Council Directive (EU) 2019/1158) should have entered into force at the beginning of August, which did not happen. It is difficult to predict when the works over the amendment will be finished. Nevertheless, employers should get to know the key changes that are surely coming. Michał Fijak comments for IT-Leaders.

Article: here. 

The long-awaited draft of a bill on the employment of foreigners has been published. It will change the rules for obtaining work permits and declarations on entrusting work to foreigners in Poland.

It is planned to adopt the new regulation sill this year. The draft also foresees that the act will enter into force shortly after its publication – after only 7 days.

Below we present the most important changes included in the project:

• elimination of the so-called the labor market test when applying for a work permit or certain types of residence permits – this will shorten the procedures by several weeks;
• transfer of activities related to work permits and declarations on entrusting work entirely to the praca.gov.pl portal – the only possibility of submitting an application will be sending it electronically;
• increased prevention of abuses related to the working conditions of foreigners – in order to obtain a work permit for a foreigner, the foreigner will have to receive a salary comparable to salary of other employees (verified in accordance with the central database of job offers) and perform work for at least ¼ of a full-time job;
• additional possibilities for the government to limit issuing of documents legalizing the work of foreigners – by introducing appropriate, separate regulations;
• a foreigner who entered Poland but did not start work on the basis of a previously held work permit or declaration may not be able to work for a new employer;
• in the event of a planned change in the foreigner’s working conditions, it will be possible to change the existing work permit instead of applying for a new document;
• increasing fines for illegal employment of foreigners (they will be counted for each foreigner, in the amount of at least PLN 500);
• limiting the possibility of seconding foreigners to other entities by employers who are not temporary work agencies.

However, the draft does not regulate some issues of employment of foreigners, which have been problematic for a long time. An example is the lack of specifying the possibility of remote work by foreigners.

The draft also does not include a distinction between work and business activities (for cases of business trips to Poland). Concluding contracts with foreigners in a form other than in writing (e.g. by exchanging e-mails) is also not regulated.

We hope that some of the above-mentioned issues will be taken into account during the legislative process. Our team will follow the progress of the work on the new bill.

According to the Social Insurance Institution, benefits from the company social fund did not fulfil their purpose because their amount was almost the same for everybody – differences between income thresholds amounted to 10 zlotys. The court found that the social contributions payer did not breach the provisions of the Company Social Fund Act – there was a differentiation, albeit small. But more importantly, the benefits were not a form of hidden remuneration – Łukasz Chruściel comments for Rzeczpospolita.

Article: here.

The judgement of Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw confirmed for the first time, that the restrictive position of the President of the Personal Data Protection Office is incorrect and data of job candidates may be stored. We believed so for a long time – Sławomir Paruch comments for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

Article: here. 

The death of an employee due to hear attack can only be considered an accident at work if there are special, extraordinary circumstances surrounding performing work. Despite the relatively extensive case law, this issue, as the case in question confirms, still raises questions in practice and is therefore worth examining in more detail. Particularly as it is important to many parties – employees and their family members, employers, and the Social Security Institution. – Kinga Polewka-Włoch and Kinga Krzysztofik comment for ius.focus.

Article: here.

An employee who simultaneously performs work on an equal basis with members of the managed team, while managing a separate organizational unit, cannot be considered a “manager” within the meaning of Art. 151 (4) par. 1 of the Labor Code – advocate Bartosz Wszeborowski and Kamil Nazimek comment for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna the loud verdict of the Regional Court in Toruń regarding the overtime work of the manager.

Article: here.

The use of statutory exceptions to keep the stores open on public holidays has been made considerably more difficult. For this purpose, the entrepreneur must realistically develop a new branch of activity. On the other hand, there are forms of carrying out specific activities that are regulated briefly or not at all, which may fit into one of the exceptions to the trading ban. – Miłosz Awedyk and Michał Olejniczak comment for Rzeczpospolita.

Article: here.

The Social Insurance Institution’s (ZUS) take on Article 5(2) of the Social Insurance System Act should be regarded as reprehensible. The way ZUS acts flies in the face of the rule of law where lower-level authorities take into account the positions of higher-level authorities in their decision-making. Meanwhile, despite a well-established line of Supreme Court decisions which has been continued for over 15 years, ZUS ventures the opinion contrary to this line. It is also contrary to the best interest of citizens and entrepreneurs who need to take on the burden of appealing against ZUS’s decisions and going through the entire court proceedings to obtain a decision compliant with the court decisions. – Łukasz Chruściel comments for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

Article: here.

While conducting collective disputes, trade unions often undertake actions that raise doubts about their legality. Sometimes these disputes are initiated by trade union centrals and are far from the actual situation at the workplace and the interests on the employees. This entails further misconduct. For example, raising demands that cannot be the subject of a collective dispute, organising illegal protests, or abusing the right to strike, as a direct result of fulfilling the expectations of representatives of regional or national trade union structures.- Slawomir Paruch, Robert Stępień, Michał Bodziony comment for Rzeczpospolita.

Article: here.