Month: January 2024

On January 26, 2024, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs decided to suspend the Ministry’s participation in the Poland.Business Harbour program. Since Friday, January 26, 2024, Polish consulates have already started to deny applications for PBH visas.

Suspension of the MFA’s participation in the program means that it is no longer possible  to obtain a PBH visa, either under the so-called business path (suspended some time ago – see our previous information here: [link – here ] or under the so-called individual path.

Suspension of the Ministry’s participation in the program does not affect rights of holders of already issued PBH visas.

Foreigners seeking employment in the IT sector in Poland can still apply for Polish visas on general terms. However, in order for them to be able to legally perform work in Poland, entities that want to employ them will first need to obtain appropriate work permits or declarations on entrusting work to a foreigner.

Suspension of the ministry’s participation in the program is intended to last until new solutions are adopted guaranteeing proper verification of companies and foreigners benefitting from the program.

In the Ministry’s opinion, the functioning of the PBH program so far did not meet the expectations. In particular, some of the visas issued under this program were to be used for purposes inconsistent with the program’s purpose.

At the same time, the ministry announces the commencement of work on streamlining work visa procedures, especially in industries most valuable to the Polish economy.

Poland’s labour laws create an unfair distinction between students pursuing different types of degrees, with integrated master’s degree students facing a disadvantage compared to students enrolled in a two-tier degree program. Under Poland’s labour laws, completing a degree is considered equivalent to eight years of work experience. However, while the former students must complete five years of study to be granted this entitlement, the latter achieve this after only three years. But this isn’t the only perplexing aspect of the regulations – periods of working under civil law contracts, such as contracts for services or commissions, are not counted towards work experience. This leads to absurd situations where a person has been in the labour market for several years but must still wait at least two years after switching to an employment contract to qualify for a longer annual leave entitlement. – Bartosz Wszeborowski comments for prawo.pl.

The article in Polish is avialible: here.

The request for leave should be submitted at least 21 days in advance, but the regulations do not specify what to do if this deadline is missed. When fathers request this leave too late, employers are not sure whether it should be granted or not. – Bartosz Wszeborowski and Aleksandra Bruchajzer comment for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

The article in Polish is avialible: here.

According to information from the Polish Ministry of Interior and Administration, work has begun on amending the so-called Ukrainian Special Bill. Most likely, the amendment will allow persons displaced from Ukraine staying in Poland to retain the so-called UKR status and the related right to stay and legal employment in Poland after March 4, 2024, for another year – until March 4, 2025 – or at least for another 6 months – until end of September 2024. However, the details of the planned amendment and the expected date of its entry into force are not known. It is also not known whether the extension of the UKR status will be automatic or whether it will require additional formalities.

According to the current wording of the Ukrainian Special Bill, the so-called UKR status is available to persons displaced from Ukraine only until March 4, 2024. A change of law allowing for the extension of UKR status after this date is expected due to the need to adapt Polish regulations to the decision of the Council of the European Union of October 29, 2023 to extend the temporary protection for persons displaced from Ukraine until March 4, 2025 at the EU-wide level (more about this decision in our earlier note here). The decision of the Council on its own did not yet result in an extension of the UKR status for the status holders (contrary to some views circulating in the social media).

Losing the UKR status on March 4, 2024 (which may happen e.g. if the amendment to the Special Bill is not adopted in time) does not necessarily mean losing the right to reside and work in Poland. UKR status holders working or running a business in Poland can already now apply for residence permits making them independent of the UKR status. As regards persons who do not perform work or conduct business (e.g. children or non-working spouses), there is also a number of measures which can be used to allow them continued stay in Poland after losing the UKR status.

Download the PDF: here.

Presenteeism is a phenomenon opposed to absence due to sickness. It is generally associated with avoiding sick leaves. This may be initially perceived positively by the employer, but in the long term, it causes more harm than good. In fact both presenteeism and absences have negative aspects for the employer. – Paweł Sych and Małgorzata Bielańska comment form magazine HR na Szpilkach.

Full article available in the January issue.

2023 has undoubtedly been a busy year for HR departments and has brought many long-awaited changes. A summary of them can be found here. All signs point to a slight slowdown in 2024. We have listed the most important HR law changes in 2024 below.

I. DOUBLE INCREASE IN MINIMUM WAGE

From 1 January 2024 the minimum salary will be 4242 PLN gross, and as of 1 July it will be increased to 4300 PLN gross. The minimum hourly rate for civil law contracts is now 27,70 PLN gross, and from 1 July it will be 28,10 PLN gross. Along with the increase in minimum wage, benefits such as additional pay for night work, remuneration for downtime, severance pay for collective redundancies, compensation for mobbing or unequal treatment have also increased.

II. WHISTLEBLOWERS’ LAW

Poland has been delaying the implementation of the directive on the protection of whistleblowers for over 2 years now. The Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy announced that work on implementation is a priority for the parliamentary majority. We expect that the new year will bring a breakthrough on this issue. It is important to start work on preparing the internal notification procedure today, as the latest draft of the Whistleblower Protection act provides for a very short vacatio legis – entities employing at least 50 people will have only 14 days to implement an internal notification procedure.

III. ADAPTING WORKSTATIONS TO THE NEW HEALTH AND SAFETY REGULATIONS

This is a consequence of last year’s amendment to the regulations on workstations with screen monitors. On 16 May, the 6-month period for employers to adapt existing workstations to the new regulations will expire. Workstations of employees using laptops for at least half of their daily working time will have to be equipped with a monitor or a stand and an additional keyboard and mouse.

IV. REIMBURSEMENT FOR CONTACT LENSES

The amendment obliged employers to reimburse the cost of contact lenses. It has been in force since 17 November last year, but it is expected that it will become more and more important this year and that employees will use the new benefit widely.

V. ELIMINATING SICK PAY

Sick pay will likely undergo changes in the new year. The Social Insurance Institution will be providing sick pay to the employee from the first day of their sick leave. This is one of the flagship proposals of the new government for entrepreneurs. It is not yet clear whether the change will only cover micro-entrepreneurs or all entrepreneurs in general.

VI. ZUS HOLIDAYS AND PIT PAYABLE UPON PAYMENT RECEIPT

Another government’s proposals for entrepreneurs are ZUS holidays and PIT payable upon payment receipt. The obligation to settle income tax will be postponed until the entrepreneur receives payment from an invoice. ZUS Holidays will provide for exemption from paying contributions for one month a year. During this period, the entrepreneur will receive a holiday benefit in the amount of half of the minimum wage. This proposal will be targeted only at micro-entrepreneurs.

VII. GRANDMAS’ BENEFIT

During his expose, The Prime Minister announced introduction of a new benefit for mothers returning to work after maternity leave. The benefit will be paid by ZUS in the amount of 1500 PLN per month, provided that the applying mother’s income is at least equal to the minimum wage. The grandmothers’ benefit is intended to cover childcare costs and enable mothers to successfully return to the labour market.

VIII. NEW TAX-FREE AMOUNT AND CHANGES TO THE HEALTH CONTRIBUTION?

During the election campaign a new tax-free amount of 60 000 PLN was promised. However, it seems that this proposal has faded into the background for the time being. Instead, favourable rules for calculating the health contribution were included in the new government’s coalition agreement. We will find out in the coming months if this will mean a return to a flat-rate system of calculating health contributions or a completely new solution.

IX. NEW LAW ON COLLECTIVE DISPUTES

In the new year we also expect continuation of work on a new law on collective disputes. The previous draft caused a lot of controversy – changing the definition of a collective dispute, abandoning listing of the dispute subjects, defining dispute duration, or introducing preventive mediation are just some of the new ideas. Time will tell which of these will be included in the final version of the law. Undoubtedly, further work requires extensive public consultations.

X. PREPARING FOR ESG REPORTING FOR FINANCIAL YEAR 2024

The reporting obligation for 2024 will only apply to major public interest entities (exceeding the average number of 500 employees on annual balance sheet date, including public companies) but in the following years the obligation will also apply to private companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises (in 2025 and 2026). It is worth getting to know the new obligations and reporting methods now.

The conditions for using care leave (due to serious medical reasons) are so similar to the force majeure leave (due to accident or illness), that the separation of them probably only follows from the editing of paragraphs of Directive 2019/1158, In addition, the possibility to use the carer leave only for a family member from the same household makes this leave unattainable for many employees. This in turn raises questions about the correct implementation of the directive standards. – Sławomir Paruch and Agata Ankersztajn comment for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

The article in Polish is avialible: here.

According to the new information, the programme will be targeted mainly at the self-employed and micro-entrepreneurs. This change narrows the initial circle of those eligible to benefit from the programme. The reports on the project so far do not address the restrictions on operating during the “contribution holidays”.  The question remains whether the exemption from contributions will impose the suspension of personal business activities. – Slawomir Paruch, Łukasz Chruściel and Patryk Kozieł comment for Rzeczpospolita.

The article in Polish is avialible: here.

A women-friendly workplace is most importantly free from any form of discrimination. It is a place where men and women are treated equally and where gender has no influence on salary levels and access to promotions. In the coming years, levelling out possible differences will become more important due to the implementation of the pay transparency directive and its provisions on the disclosure of pay data, and pay gap. – Sandra Szybak-Bizacka comments for kobieta.rp.pl.

The article in Polish is avialible: here.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has suspended the its participation in referring visa recommendations issued by the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH) to Polish consulates under the Poland Business Harbor program.

This means closure of the so-called business path of the Poland Business Harbor program, which so far allowed Polish companies to bring foreign workers to Poland and employ them in Poland without first going through the time-consuming process of obtaining a work permit.

Despite the above change, employing foreign workers in Poland without work permit using the Poland Business Harbor program is still possible under the so-called an individual path, which remains an attractive alternative to the standard immigration process of obtaining a work permit and then a work visa. The individual path can be used by employers who intend to employ IT specialists from Belarus, Russia, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia or Azerbaijan (as well as from Ukraine, however, Ukrainian citizens currently benefit from separate, even further going facilitation in undertaking employment in Poland).