Month: March 2024

The Ministry of Development and Technology has yet again revised its draft legislation regarding one-month holidays from paying contributions to Social Insurance Institution (ZUS). This benefit, initially intended for microbusinesses, has undergone several modifications in its eligibility criteria. The latest (third) version of the draft amendment limits the benefit to employers who reported a maximum of 10 insured persons to ZUS in the previous month. This replaces the previous version’s requirement that the number of insured persons be under 10 on the application date. The Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy expressed concern that the previous requirement could incentivize employers to give employees one day of unpaid leave only to meet the eligibility threshold. This reasoning may seem questionable. – Łukasz Chruściel, comments for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

Full article in Polish avialible: here.

Higher limits for earning additional income while receiving retirement or disability pensions, changes in personal income tax (PIT), and new requirements for employing individuals working with children are just some of the changes in HR law. What were the latest developments in this area in February 2024? – Sandra Szybak-Bizacka and Karolina Stępień comment for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

Full article in Polish avialible: here.

Issues with reconciling funds arise when the deadline for paying Social Insurance (ZUS) contributions is deferred for the months when support is received. This applies not only to support obtained under Article 15g of the COVID-19 act (for employees affected by economic downtime or reduced working hours) but also to support granted under Article 15gg (for employees not affected by downtime, or reduced working hours). Neither the agreements made with the Regional Labour Office (WUP) nor the COVID-19 act specify deadlines for spending the funds, only the deadline for companies to submit their settlements along with the required documents. Therefore, the stance of the authorities that paying ZUS contributions after submitting the settlement requires reimbursement is unfounded. The funds received from WUP were spent in accordance with their purpose and regulations.- Paweł Sych comments for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.

Full article in Polish avialible: here.

The Ministry of Labour is diligently working on a new draft of the whistleblower protection act implementing the EU directive. These regulations should have been in place for over two years now, so the government is in a hurry. In the new provisions the term “whistleblower” is introduced instead of “person reporting violation of the law”. Additionally, the project expands the list of violations to include human and civil rights, corruption, human trafficking, and issues related to labour law violations. This will have significant implications for employers, as it imposes a revision of current internal procedures. The project also includes the possibility of accepting anonymous reports – each employer will have to specify if they will accept such reports in their organisation. – Slawomir Paruch comments for Business Insider Polska.

Full article in Polish avialible: here.

By June 7^th, 2026, Poland must implement into its laws the pay equity and transparency rules, which means new obligations will be imposed on employers so they comply with the directive (EU) 2023/970 of the European Parliament and of the European Council of 10 May 2023. The goal of this legislation is to strengthen and enforce – the application of the principle of ‘equal pay for work of equal value’, with particular focus on bridging the pay gap between men and women across the EU.

The directive introduces both indirect—through increased transparency—and direct enforcement mechanisms. – Marcin Sanetra comments for AmCham.Pl QUARTERLY.

Article here.

Many women face anxiety about returning to work after giving birth, while others worry about whether or not they will have a job to return to. While pregnancy and the post-partum period are unique experiences for each woman, existing legislation provides a framework of equal employment rights related to parenthood. However, these rights, for both mothers and fathers, are often not proactively communicated by employers to their teams. Reintegration policies are emerging as a valuable tool to address this gap. These policies are increasingly discussed within the context of the “S” aspect of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reporting. – Karolina Kanclerz and Michalina Lewandowska-Alama comment for kobieta.rp.pl.

Full article in Polish avialible: here.