This recent amendment is a positive step that should improve compliance with employment law and health and safety regulations. It is expected to reduce extreme situations where employers, facing obvious irregularities, would temporarily terminate contracts and then re-hire staff once the risk of the National Labour Inspectorate (NLI) inspection had passed. The NLI’s scrutiny may also extend to dormant companies that have suspended or ceased operations but have not been formally closed and are not currently employing staff. – Sławomir Paruch and Bartosz Tomanek comment to Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
Up to 50–60% of B2B agreements concluded by self-employed individuals are actually contracts of employment. However, B2B contracts are often preferred and, consequently, entered into by mutual consent. There are numerous roles and sectors where candidates actively seek more financially attractive B2B arrangements, showing little interest in standard employment contracts. These sectors could soon become the primary focus of the National Labour Inspection (NLI). Nevertheless, increased policing of the rule against using contracts based on the Civil Code for employees will not impact top executives serving on company boards. Companies are able to justify the non-compete clause within their contracts by demonstrating operation in a particularly competitive sector, potentially validating a B2B arrangement with a single service recipient. – Sławomir Paruch comments to Rzeczpospolita.
The requirement to maintain employment among employees covered by the project poses significant challenges. In practice, there is room for adjustments, but it is usually not formalized and depends on discretionary decisions of the authorities. Moreover, any changes require formal implementation and, consequently, may also necessitate consultations with trade unions – therefore, appropriate actions should be taken as soon as possible. – Kinga Polewka-Włoch comments to Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
A trade union’s remit in the workplace extends well beyond collective bargaining or negotiating with employers. Their core function lies in the daily use of their statutory powers. These activities are often less publicly visible, yet crucial for protecting employee interests and shaping the rules for cooperation within the company. We outline the most important trade union operational powers below, detailing their significance and practical consequences. – Sławomir Paruch and Kinga Ciosk comment to Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
From 24 December 2025, employers will be required to disclose salary information to all job applicants. The legislation specifies three stages at which this information may be provided: in the job advertisement; or before the interview (if the advertisement was unpublished or omitted salary details); or, as the final possible moment, before the employment relationship is formally established. This raises a key question for businesses: can they freely choose this timing? The answer is: not entirely. – Michal Włodarczyk and Michał Bodziony comment to Parkiet. Article available at: here.
Mobile workers are not excluded from the working time regulations. To correctly apply the rules, HR teams must establish a clear definition of an employee’s usual place of work, keep precise time records and distinguish accurately between travelling from job to job as part of their routine work and actual business travel. – Kinga Polewka-Włoch and Michalina Lewandowska-Alama comment to Rzeczpospolita.
In recent years, many companies have turned to artificial intelligence (AI) to help with recruitment: screening CVs, ranking candidates, predicting performance, even concluding initial interviews. The benefits are promising – faster hiring cycles, lower costs, improved objectivity, and potentially better decision-making. But with these advantages comes a significant challenge – making sure algorithms do not reinforce the very biases they are meant to eliminate. – Bartosz Wszeborowski, and Julia Łuszczewska comment for Contact Online magazine.
If an employee’s conduct turns out to be extremely disloyal towards their employer – especially near the end of their employment relationship and involving non-competition breaches – it may be considered fundamentally inconsistent with the principles of good faith and fairness. Consequently, such actions could preclude the employee from successfully pursuing other claims against the employer. – Karolina Kanclerz and Łukasz Marzec comment to Rzeczpospolita.
If a service provider enters into a Business-to-Business (B2B) contract – benefitting from favourable tax and social security contribution conditions and pays their dues as a self-employed individual – any subsequent claim to reclassify their B2B contract as an employment relationship is unlikely to be justified. This holds true even if it were the company that proposed the B2B structure and drafted the contract. – Paweł Sych comments to Gazeta Wyborcza.
Sweeping regulatory overhauls are often impractical; they typically demand lengthy consultation and reduce organisational agility. A far more effective approach is to review and update current procedures, ensuring they are transparent and readily available. Introducing supplementary policies, such as those governing emergency leave or flexible working, is also a good solution. These can be deployed quickly, offering staff a vital sense of security. Furthermore, it is crucial to establish a process for the rapid communication of government announcements or official decisions to employees, and to appoint people responsible for translating complex directives into clear, actionable guidance for the whole team. Finally, a key safeguard is to always have backup plans and replacement teams ready to step in. – Robert Stępień and Kinga Ciosk comment for Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
