Month: September 2023

The employer’s right to grant outstanding annual leave without the employee’s consent and disregarding the scheduled leaves was explicitly provided for in the act on special measures relating to the prevention, counteracting and combatting COVID-19. Employers still have the possibility to send an employee on unused leave (also longer than 30 days). The employee is obliged to take this leave.- Karolina Kanclerz and Łukasz Marzec comment for Rzeczpospolita.

The article in Polish is avialible here.

Allowing employees to submit claims without paying a fee regardless of the amount of the claim will result in increasing employees’ claims in compensation cases for bullying, unequal treatment or harassment. Until now, the 50 000 PLN limit on worker’s compensation cases limited people from submitting higher claims to avoid paying the fee. Now that this limit is gone, there will be no restriction on the amount of compensation or damages from the employer. – Robert Stępień comments for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

The article in Polish is avialible here.

Following the decision made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to end cooperation with outsourcing companies intermediating in Polish visa processes, the government has published official information about changing the method of applying for Polish visas in India.

From Tuesday, September 26 this year until further notice, all applications for Polish visas and appeals regarding Polish visas in India may only be submitted directly to official diplomatic missions, i.e. the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in New Delhi or the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Mumbai. Visa appointment dates are booked via the online e-konsulat system, with the appointment dates allocated by lottery.

As a consequence of the above changes, the time needed to obtain a visa to Poland in India may be significantly longer. With this in mind, we recommend planning the employment process of a foreigner from India even several months in advance.

Official information published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is available on the government website here.

The rationale behind special protection for some categories of employees is clear and commendable. If the law takes certain employees under special protection, this protection should be tight and prevent employers from circumventing it. On the other hand, such protection cannot be absolute. Otherwise, it might turn out that an employer cannot dismiss employees who have clearly breached the law or caused damage to the company and other employees. Unfortunately, it seems that the latest amendment to the Polish Civil Procedure Code that became effective on 22 September 2023 will result in just that. – Łukasz Chruściel, comments for Rzeczpospolita.

The article in Polish is avialible here.

On 22 September 2023, the balance of power in court disputes tilted towards employees, especially those covered by trade union protection. Employers terminating an employee will have to bear in mind that such an employee may return to work for the duration of the legal proceedings. It is because the new legislation strengthens the protection over dismissed employees. Who will be entitled to protection under the new legislation? And what else is there to know about the changes? – Łukasz Chruściel, Sandra Szybak-Bizacka and Katarzyna Stępień comment for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

The article in Polish is avialible here.

During the annual speech delivered to the European Parliament on September 13, 2023, the President of the European Commission announcee that the Commission would be requesting another extension of EU temporary protection for Ukrainian citizens – link to the text of the speech here.

Currently, temporary protection for Ukrainian citizens is approved until March 4, 2024. In accordance with EU regulations, it can be extended for a period of up to another year if the Council of the EU agrees to it by a qualified majority.

The extension of temporary protection at the EU level will probably also mean an amendment to the so-called Ukrainian special act in force in Poland and extension of the right of legal residence in Poland of Ukrainian citizens with the so-called UKR status. At the moment, however, there is no information about expected changes to the Special Act in Poland.

The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided to terminate contracts with outsourcing companies handling the process of submitting applications for Polish visas in many countries.

In the near future, this may mean significant changes in the practical functioning of the process of obtaining Polish visas in these countries, including a significant extension of visa processing times.

A public statement on this and other decisions of the Minister of Foreign Affairs was published today on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in connection with the so-called visa scandal widely reported in the Polish media – here.

It is expected that employers will soon call their employees back to the office, which will leave them with 30 days to re-organise their lives. How big the change in employees’ private and professional lives will be depends greatly on where they live. It might get difficult for employees who worked from home in some other city than their employer’s seat, which was not an issue with remote working. But a sudden change to commuting tens or hundreds of kilometres to work means that the employer might face the dilemma of either parting with such a person or allowing them to keep working remotely. The latter may stir up discontent among employees who have returned to the office and bring about allegations of unequal treatment. – Bartosz Tomanek comments for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

The article in Polish is avialible here.

Nothing stops agreeing on a mixed remuneration system in an employment contract. However it is necessary to verify whether any of the adopted rates is less favourable than the others. It is unacceptable that application of one of the rates may lead to the payment of a lower salary than the employee would have received if the other rate had been applied. It should be noted that in this case, the principle of employee privilege, regulated in the Labour Code, is applied, meaning that the solution more favourable to the employee should be used. – Mariusz Maksis comments for Rzeczpospolita.

The article in Polish is avialible here.

Companies are using so-called warranty payments instead of contractual penalties more often. The are more effective in protecting the interests of one party against the other party’s inappropriate actions. Unlike a contractual penalty, warranty payments are not regulated in the Civil Code. The possibility of applying this solution results from the principle of freedom of contract (Article 3531 of the Civil Code), which leaves the parties with a lot of flexibility. – Bartosz Tomanek and Maja Konopa comment for Rzeczpospolita.

The article in Polish is avialible here.