Poland Revises Labor Code 

Recent changes to Poland’s labor code (Polish) expand protections from discrimination, revise requirements for issuing employment certificates, and allow parents to assign maternity and parental leave entitlements to a close family member. The revised labor code takes effect on 7 Sep 2019.

Highlights

Here are key changes in the revised code.

Protection From Discrimination and Bullying

• Discrimination includes any unequal treatment of employees that is unjustified by objective reasons, even if the labor code doesn’t specifically prohibit the particular type of discrimination.
• Employees who have been bullied now don’t have to resign to claim compensation from their employer.

Issuance of Employment Certificates

• Employers must issue employment certificates on an employee’s termination date or — if objective reasons prevent meeting that deadline — within seven days of termination. Work certificates contain information about the former employment relationship, such as dates of employment, employee’s position, reason for termination, amount of vacation leave taken in the final year of employment and any other absences.
• New deadlines apply for employees to request corrections to the certificate and for employers to respond. Employees can make a claim against the employer for noncompliance.

Maternity and Parental Leave

• Employees can now assign their maternity and parental leave entitlement to a member of their immediate family. The family member is protected from termination while on maternity and paternity leave and can take vacation at the end of the leave period. 

Related Resources

• Revised Labor Code (Polish) (LexLege)