On 27 November 2025, the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers adopted a draft bill amending the provisions of the Labour Code on mobbing. This is in response to comments submitted to earlier bills, which we have covered in articles on the first bill and amendments to it. Although the latest version is only a slight modification of the earlier, if enacted, it will place further obligations on employers.

Bullies will pay from their own pockets - a groundbreaking change

The most important new aspect is a change in the mechanism that releases employers from liability for mobbing, if they can demonstrate that they had properly performed their duties of prevention and the perpetrator was an employee who was not the victim’s superior. In such a case, the direct perpetrator of the mobbing (bully) will have to pay moral redress to the victim of not less than twelve times the minimum wage, namely PLN 58,392 in 2026.

This is a significant departure from the previous version. Although it did allow the employer an exemption from liability in similar circumstances but failed to make the perpetrator directly liable to the victim. In certain cases, the employer could demand compensation from the bully. Now, the bully will be liable to a lawsuit directly by the aggrieved employee and required to pay moral redress on the same terms as the employer.

For employees, this will mean potentially stronger protection. Even if the employer is able to demonstrate that they met all their obligations regarding the prevention of mobbing, the victim will not be left without the option of pursuing compensation. This is a warning signal for potential perpetrators of mobbing: harassing colleagues may cost them tens of thousands of zlotys of their personal wealth.

In its current state, the law does not, of course, preclude a victim of mobbing from pursuing claims directly against the perpetrator. However, this has to be based on the provisions of the Civil Code, and such cases are decided by judges in civil divisions. Now, a special solution will be imbedded directly in the Labour Code, and such cases will be dealt with by labour division judges.

Employer’s right of recourse - will it work in practice?

The draft continues the approach of the previous version, according to which an employer who has paid an employee compensation or moral redress for mobbing may seek recourse from the perpetrator for the loss incurred. This recourse claim is intended to have a preventive effect: discouraging employees from engaging in any types of mobbing, because they may have to bear the consequences of such behaviour.

The question arises whether employers will actually exercise their right of recourse? Enforcement against an employee who is an individual may be difficult or even impossible. Even if the court rules in favour of the employer, the recovery of monies from a mobber who possesses no assets may prove futile.

List of mobbing behaviours - clarity at last?

The draft bill defines mobbing as persistent harassment of an employee, where persistence means that the behaviour is repetitive, recurring or constant. It clearly states that incidental behaviour, even if violating personal rights, does not constitute mobbing.

Legislators have listed specific manifestations of mobbing: humiliation, insulting, intimidation, deprecating professional competence, unjustified criticism, degradation, ridicule, hindering functioning in the workplace (including in terms of achieving results of work, performing tasks, communicating with colleagues, accessing information), as well as isolating or eliminating a member of a team.

Will this help? On the one hand, yes, because employers and employees will have specific points of reference. On the other hand, any assessment of whether mobbing has occurred is an individual matter and must take into account the circumstances of the specific case. So ultimately, everything will depend on how a court might interpret it.

New procedural obligations for employers

Employers will have to specify in a collective labour agreement or work regulations the rules, procedures and regularity of actions taken to counter violations of the dignity and other personal rights of employees, violations of rules of equal treatment, discrimination and mobbing.

If the collective labour agreement does not describe this issue or the employer does not have binding work regulations in place, the employer must determine these issues in a workplace announcement. This is a change from the second bill, which required a workplace announcement, if the issue was not specified in a collective agreement or work regulations. The first version provided an obligation to issue a workplace announcement, if the issue was not specified in the collective labour agreement or work regulations.

The new wording raises doubts: is a workplace announcement necessary only if there are no work regulations in place, or also when such regulations do exist, but fail to regulate these issues? A literal interpretation suggests the former approach, which would be beneficial for employers who do have regulations in place.

It is also worth noting the change in the terminology: the previous draft bill mentioned “principles” and “manner”, while the current one has “rules” and “procedures”. The new bill’s wording clearly requires the employer to define the “rules”, which are certainly a more specific and categorical means of regulating than “principles”. Furthermore, the term “procedures” suggests that the employer’s actions should be properly systematised, which includes a specification of the persons responsible for taking particular actions, the extent of their powers, as well as the stages of proceedings and the methods of achieving a resolution.

Six months for implementation - is that enough?

Employers will have six months from the date of entry into force of the act to adapt their work regulations, collective agreements or issue workplace announcements. The rule established in the second bill has therefore not changed.

This is still a challenging deadline for large organisations. A review of current procedures and the possibly drafting of new regulations will be essential. These will need to be agreed with trade unions or employee representatives and management staff will need to be trained. Finally, all employees will need to be informed. For small companies that have no work regulations at all, this may be not only an organisational but also a financial challenge.

What next?

The bill which the Standing Committee of the Council of Ministers adopted is a third draft amendment to the regulations on mobbing. Previous drafts were criticised by both employers and trade unions. The current version attempts to find a compromise by introducing a mechanism of direct liability for the perpetrator of the mobbing, while maintaining the possibility of exempting the employer from liability in certain cases.

Will this solution remain during further stages of the legislative process? Will there be further comments on and subsequent versions of the bill? Employers should closely monitor developments and already start preparing for the new obligations. The regulations’ final form  may still change, but the direction of the changes is clear: mobbing will be treated more seriously and the consequences for perpetrators – employers as well as the mobbers themselves – will be more severe. It also seems certain that employers will be required to introduce new internal regulations. However, these regulations may prove to be an important tool for employers to defend themselves against potential mobbing claims from employees.

Summary of the most important changes to the regulations on mobbing

As this is already the third draft bill intended to regulate the same issue, for your convenience, below is a brief summary of the draft bill’s key changes concerning mobbing.

Przemysław Zając

Tomasz Pleśniak