articles - Labour and employment law

Employee sickness and absenteeism from work are inherent business risks which the employer has to take into account. An employee's absence from work can be so frequent that it significantly affects the functioning of the workplace. In such situations, it may be in the employer’s interest to terminate such an employee’s employment contract and hire someone else to take their place. Labour Code provisions oblige employers to specify the reason justifying such a decision in the notice terminating indefinite-term contracts (Article 30 § 4 of the Labour Code). Does regular sickness...

At present, a change of work does not constitute any kind of extraordinary situation, with foreign citizens not being an exception to this. However, they do not all have unlimited access to the labour market. Quite the contrary: employment is often dependent on prior acquisition of a work permit. And what happens in situations where a change of employer takes place in the course of proceedings to obtain a permit for temporary residence and work? What are the changes that do not require a change to a decision and what are the ones requiring the lodging of a respective motion? And finally, is...

From 1 January 2021, payers of contributions and individuals commissioning work will be obliged to inform ZUS, (Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych, Poland’s social insurance institution) about concluding specific-task contracts (umowy o dzieło) that are not subject to social security and health insurance contributions. Thanks to this new obligation, ZUS will be able to verify the existence of the social security obligation of persons performing specific-task contracts. However, this brief regulation may raise many practical reservations.

Given the nature of their function, management board members take key business decisions. They have access to confidential information, including trade secrets whose disclosure or misuse could expose the company to a loss.  

An employment contract performed entirely within Poland but concluded with an employer without a registered office in the EU, the EEA or Switzerland may not constitute grounds for mandatory Polish social insurance. This position was adopted by the Social Insurance Institution in an individual interpretation of Polish law.

Employees sometimes report accidents on their way to work. This generally results in an employee’s lateness to or absence from work being deemed excused. Employers are often unaware, however, that such notification carries additional obligations. Failures in this respect create the risk of the employee litigating with the employer to establish that such an event was an accident on the way to work. What should an employer do to protect themselves from such a risk?