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Posted on Categories hiring foreigners

Important amendments to the Foreigners Act

A few days ago, a bill to amend the Foreigners Act appeared on the legislative agenda of the Polish Council of Ministers. Work on the bill is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2024. It provides for changes in several important areas, including:

  • Implementation into Polish law of Directive (EU) 2021/1883 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2021 on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of highly qualified employment (EU Blue Card)
  • Electronic filing of applications for temporary residence permits, permanent residence permits and long-term EU resident permits, instead of filing these applications in paper form in person at the province office.
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Posted on Categories employment contract

Leave from work due to force majeure

Since 26 April 2023 the Labour Code has allowed leave from work due to force majeure. The introduction of this institution was mandated by the so-called Work Life Balance Directive (Directive 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU).

The Work Life Balance Directive is intended, among other things, to make it easier for parents and caregivers to combine work and private life, and to lead to a balanced division of caregiving responsibilities between men and women. The force majeure exemption is therefore in line with the directive’s goal.

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Posted on Categories employment contract

Carer’s leave

Carer’s leave was introduced into the Labour Code on 26 April 2023 by the Act amending the Labour Code (LC) and certain other acts of 9 March 2023. The Act was intended to introduce two directives into Polish law:

  • Directive (EU) 2019/1152 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union
  • Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU.

Directive 2019/1158 aims to promote equality between men and women in the labour market, ensure equal treatment in the workplace and make it easier for employees (parents and carers) to reconcile family life with work. Under its provisions, employees are entitled to paternity leave, parental leave, carer’s leave and flexible working arrangements if they are parents or carers.

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Posted on Categories pay transparency

No more asymmetry in wage negotiations?

In the current Polish labour market, disclosure of salaries by employers is standard only in certain industries, particularly in the IT sector. Many employers do not disclose salary information to protect company secrets. Hence, it appears, that the norm is not to disclose salary ranges in recruitment advertisements, use of salary secrecy provisions and for employers to increasingly rarely set pay grades, which translates into less disclosure of salaries in organisations.

At the same time, the lack of wage openness contributes to the perpetuation of the gender wage gap, which reaches 12.7% in the European Union, according to Eurostat data from 2021. In Poland, according to various sources, the wage gap ranges from 4.5% to almost 20%. Differences in estimates are due to the methodology adopted, in particular whether the so-called raw wage gap, which is the difference between the average wages of employees of both sexes, or the so-called adjusted wage gap, which is a measure of the difference in wages between men and women with similar characteristics (e.g. age, education level, length of service) or employed in similar positions, is studied.

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