flash news: #litigation
The Supreme Court has confirmed that an employer may familiarise an employee with his/her scope of duties by posting such document on the intranet. This results from the Supreme Court's ruling of 17 January 2024 (III PSK 26/23).
The case concerned an employee who accused his employer of posting his scope of duties on the intranet, as a result of which he was not clearly acquainted with it. The employee also pointed out that he had never signed a statement confirming that he had read the scope of duties.
The European Court of Human Rights, in its judgment of 20 February 2024 (48340/20 Dede), found that disciplinary dismissal for providing critical information about the actions of a superior is contrary to Article 10 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which deals with freedom of expression.
The dispute arose after a Turkish employee sent an e-mail to a group of employees from the HR department criticising management methods at the workplace. He alleged, among other things, distancing by his supervisor, the use of biased criteria in the recruitment process, favouritism towards certain employees and a lack of action to improve the overall situation. The employer dismissed the employee on disciplinary grounds, as it considered the message to be an infringement of the supervisor's personal rights and a violation of work order.
On 28 August this year, the President of Poland signed the Amending Act of 7 July 2023 which amends the Civil Procedure Code, the Law on the System of Common Courts, the Criminal Procedure Code, as well as certain other acts. It introduces, among others, changes in how court costs are regulated in employment cases.
In an employment case, if the value of the dispute exceeds PLN 50,000, only an appeal fee will be charged, and in addition, only on the part of the value of the dispute that exceeds PLN 50,000. The fee will be collected under the rules of Article 13 of the Act on Court Costs in Civil Cases.
On 16 August 2023 President signed an amendment to the law on bridging pensions and certain other laws (Sejm Paper no. 3321), which extends the protection of specially protected employees.
The solutions introduced by this amendment in this respect are described here >>>
The provisions regarding specially protected employees will take effect 30 days after publication of the Act in the Journal of Laws.
On Friday, 28 July 2023, parliamentary work was completed on an amendment to the law on bridging pensions and certain other laws (Sejm Paper no. 3321), which extends the protection of specially protected employees.
A draft bill amending the Act on Bridging Pensions and Certain Other Acts (Sejm Paper No. 3321), which introduces significant changes to proceedings in labour law cases, has been passed in the Sejm.