Employers are asking what the end of the epidemic state of emergency will mean for them in practice. Many employers are, indeed, having sleepless nights worrying about the post-epidemic reality – and rightly so. This is because several regulations concerning employment and immigration law, that need to be taken into account when running a business, are coming back into force.
You can find out how employers need to prepare for 1st July in the summary below.
Together with the most recent changes to the Labour Code, number of new offences has been introduced. Employers who fail to properly fulfil the new obligations towards employees may expect facing significant penalties. Potential fines range from 1,000 PLN to 30,000 PLN. – Karolina Kanclerz, Krzysztof Gąsior, Michalina Lewandowska-Alama, Kinga Krzysztofik, Anna Kencel and Kinga Ciosk comment for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
From 1 July, employers’ obligations regarding training and health examinations of employees will be resumed due to the revocation of the state of epidemic emergency. The anti-covid law provides for a 180-day transition period which will end on 28 December 2023. There should be no worries that giant queues will now for to see occupational physicians. However, this does not mean that employers can postpone these examinations indefinitely. Especially since the transition period begins during the holiday season and ends during Christmas. – Bartosz Tomanek comments for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
Trade unions exercising their statutory rights may generate considerable costs for employers. Moreover, employers are often faced with union demands that go further than the law provides. For example, the use of company premises and facilities, financing union trips, training and conferences or the use of company email addresses. Yielding to such demands creates unwarranted costs for the employer, and more importantly, may not comply with the law. – Michał Bodziony, Kinga Ciosk and Kamil Bogusz comment for Contact Online magazine.
It is difficult to see the rationale behind the concept of an illusive shareholder developed by the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS). Once again, it appears that social insurance law trumps other areas of law, including the Commercial Companies Code (CCC) and the Labour Code. The illusive shareholder concept is not provided for in the CCC, as even a shareholder who holds 1 per cent of shares still has certain rights. Therefore, a company with the so-called illusive shareholder cannot be considered a one-person company. Unfortunately, this concept was shaped by the social security system. Under the Social Insurance System Act, only a sole shareholder in a one-person company is considered an entrepreneur within the meaning of the Act. However, according to the ZUS and the Supreme Court, a shareholder without 100 per cent of the shares is also a sole shareholder, regardless of the applicable law. – Łukasz Chruściel comments for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
Together with the most recent changes to the Labour Code, number of new offences has been introduced. Employers who fail to properly fulfil the new obligations towards employees may expect facing significant penalties. Potential fines range from 1,000 PLN to 30,000 PLN. – Karolina Kanclerz, Krzysztof Gąsior, Michalina Lewandowska-Alama, Kinga Krzysztofik, Anna Kencel and Kinga Ciosk comment for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
The Special Act provides for many facilitations regarding the legalization of residence and work of Ukrainians. It has been amended more than 10 times since the beginning of the war, which is mainly due to unclear provisions of the Act, which were created at a very fast pace. On 28 January 2023, another amendment came into force. The amended provisions mainly concern the principles of legalization of work and stay of Ukrainian citizens in Poland. – Karolina Schiffter and Rafał Stabach comment for Food-Lex.
The case in question was based not on labour law but on social insurance law. It considered an insured person employed under an employment contract as the chair of a one-member board in a limited company, while at the same time holding more than 95% of the shares. Because of that, the insured person would be considered self-employed and not an employee for the purposes of social insurance. This, in turn, affects the amount of sickness and maternity benefits. A few things do not add up here, such as the fact that the insured person was not the sole shareholder in the limited company and, therefore, was not even insured as self-employed. Arguably, the Social Insurance Institution acted quite generously by not questioning this insurance title. The issue of shareholder employment in a limited liability company has been the subject of disputes for years – Łukasz Chruściel comments for Rzeczpospolita.
PCS Paruch Chruściel Schiffter Stępień Kanclerz | Littler – law firm where people are the most important. Since its beginnings, the PCS motto has been Human Matters.
PCS has been on the market only for 3 years. What is the foundation of its success? The team. And the long-lasting friendships between the partners. They have been working together since the beginning of their careers, and curiously all come from SKS. They pass on their experience to younger lawyers. – “I think what sets us apart is our openness – we share experience. Our partners and lawyers have access to all the rules on running the firm. We are transparent. We believe that this builds trust and long-term commitment. The rules and opportunities are equal for everyone.” – Sławek Paruch points out.
The extension of the deadline for their legal stay until 4 March 2024 is due to aligning Polish law with EU regulations, which currently allow Ukrainian refugees to stay until this date. The Polish regulations go further. Many refugees will be able to stay even longer – until the summer of 2024. The legislator has taken into account the large number of Ukrainian refugees with children attending school and provided them with a longer right of residence than under EU rules. Ukrainians who are parents of schoolchildren will be able to work longer without submitting any additional applications to the authorities. The amendment to the Special Bill on assistance for Ukrainian citizens also extends the application of additional immigration solutions, such as facilitations for starting businesses. – Marcin Snarski comments for Rzeczpospolita.
