The Polish Labour Code’s 50th anniversary: a look to the past and future

June 26, 1974, marked a significant milestone in Polish labour law with the enactment of the Labour Code. The new legislation repealed and amended over 40 existing laws, including the outdated 1919 Working Time Act, a relic of the Partition era. Finally, Polish labour law could shed the shackles of the past. While the Labour Code has undergone over 100 minor and major amendments in the past five decades, some of its original wording remains intact. However, one key aspect has certainly evolved: the code’s focus. Today, the Labour Code defines the rights and obligations of both employees and employers – the two parties in an employment relationship. In its original form, however, the code focused solely on the rights and obligations of employees, reflecting a stronger position of the workplace within the employment dynamic. The original code positioned work not only as a fundamental right but, more importantly, as a duty and a matter of national honour for every citizen. This emphasis on work’s significance aimed to cultivate a law-abiding and collective-oriented society. – Łukasz Chruściel, Kinga Polewka-Włoch and Katarzyna Stępień comment for Rzeczpospolita.

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