Legal services should be viewed as an investment to secure a positive outcome. Sometimes, it is crucial to invest more than the dispute’s monetary value as the goal extends beyond winning a single case. The true prize might be a strategic advantage or future business opportunities. The decision to litigate should be driven by such considerations as the potential gains or losses, the impact of the outcome on your business, and whether winning aligns with your broader business goals. – Sławomir Paruch and Bartosz Tomanek comment for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
In the ongoing debate about the four-day working week, a crucial point is often overlooked: for such a system to avoid productivity losses, it cannot universally apply to all types of work. While some roles, where output is the primary focus, could successfully adopt a shortened week, many others are not suited for it. For instance, a city bus driver cannot speed up routes, and in hazardous jobs, expecting increased productivity with fewer hours could jeopardise occupational health and safety. – Łukasz Chruściel shares his insights in an interview with editor Paweł Blajer for BIZNES24.
The Ministry of Labour has released another draft amendment to the Social Security Act, aiming to introduce new rules for sick leave checks. While such an amendment is necessary, it is also highly complex; the regulations must be clear and watertight. Currently, a key challenge for both employers and employees lies in the difficulty of differentiating between legitimate sick leave usage and repeated abuse. The new legislation should equip both the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) and employers with effective tools. Although the latest legislative proposal moves in the right direction, it may, in my opinion, leave room for ambiguity in certain areas. – Marcin Sanetra comments for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
A precise distinction between business travel and day-to-day field work is crucial for correctly accounting for employee travel expenses. Sandra Szybak-Bizacka and Michalina Lewandowska-Alama discuss the conditions required to benefit from tax and social security contribution exemptions for these trips in the Rzeczpospolita article.
Under Article 52(2) of the Polish Labour Code, an employer cannot file a notice of termination more than one month after becoming aware of the circumstances justifying the termination. However, precisely when this deadline begins remains a problematic question. The Supreme Court has repeatedly clarified this issue, emphasising that the crucial point is when the employer has had the opportunity to verify and confirm the validity of the allegations against the employee, rather than the initial moment information regarding the employee’s unacceptable conduct was first acquired. – Mariusz Maksis comments for Rzeczpospolita.
The Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy is reportedly considering an increase in paid time off for childcare, from the current two days to four. This renewed focus on expanding paid childcare leave is somewhat unexpected, considering that the EU Work-Life Balance Directive, implemented just two years ago, already introduced significant new entitlements and leave types for employees, especially those with children. – Marcin Sanetra comments for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
While the Deregulation Team seeks to simplify remote work regulations, legal professionals point out that many of the proposed amendments target issues that employers do not find problematic. The Ministry of Labour is also working on its own set of revisions. – Bartosz Wszeborowski and Michalina Lewandowska-Alama comment for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
ZUS is reportedly easing its interpretation regarding social security contributions on employee lunch cards. However, it expects employers to implement solutions that reduce the likelihood of funds being spent on non-food items. These might include implementing card usage policies, obligating card acceptors to restrict purchases to meals, or introducing a penalty system for misuse, where both the card acceptor and employee bear responsibility, with the non-meal expenditure becoming subject to contributions. Curiously, ZUS is also attempting to impose an additional condition, suggesting that meals must be “ready to eat”, despite no such requirement existing in the relevant regulations. – Łukasz Chruściel, comments for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
