The Labour Ministry presents a bill to amend the Act on the State Labour Inspectorate
This week saw the publication of the amendment to the Act on the State Labour Inspectorate (PIP), which was announced several months ago. This reform, which the government had committed to as one of the milestones of the National Recovery Plan, is intended to streamline the inspectorate’s work and provide it with more effective tools to enforce compliance with labour law.
The key elements of the reform are summarised the following five points.
- Decisions finding that a relationship of employment exists
The most important part of the amendment will give regional labour inspectors the power to issue decisions reclassifying (converting) civil law contracts into employment contracts, if the given circumstances meet the criteria set out in Article 22 § 1 of the Labour Code (primarily, subordination to the employer in terms of the manner, place and time of work). In their decision, inspectors will specify the elements that are normally included in an employment contract which will become binding on the parties from that point in time, such as the date of conclusion of the contract, the type of the work, the working time and the level of remuneration.
Significantly, such a decision will be subject to immediate enforcement. Even an appeal will not affect the effectiveness of an inspector’s decision: that worker will have to be treated as an employee immediately, including in terms of tax and social security contributions. Outstanding contributions (tax and social security obligations that arose before the date of the decision) will only be due after the final conclusion of the case (expiry of the deadline for appeal, resolution of the appeal by the Chief Labour Inspector or a labour court).
The employer and employee affected by the inspector’s decision will have the right to appeal, first to the Chief Labour Inspector and then, if unsuccessful, to the appropriate district court.
- Stricter penalties for infringements of labour law
The minimum and maximum fines for misdemeanours involving labour law infringements will be doubled. The fines that PIP inspectors will be able to issue on their own will also increase, in most cases to PLN 5,000 (increase of PLN 3,000), and up to PLN 10,000 (increase of PLN 5,000) for selected repeated misdemeanours.
- Digitalisation of PIP inspections
The rules for PIP inspections will change. Inspectors will be able to carry out their duties remotely, such as interviews and inspections of workstations using a camera, or carry out inspections by post or e-mail.
There will be a relaxation of requirements as to the form of certain documents: inspected parties will have the right to submit post-inspection objections in electronic form.
- More efficient exchange of information with other institutions, particularly the Social Insurance Institution
PIP and other state institutions, especially the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS), are to share their data more efficiently. Significantly, information about the issuance of a decision finding that a relationship of employment exists will be immediately forwarded by PIP to ZUS, which will significantly facilitate the enforcement of new contribution obligations.
- Changes from the new year?
According to the bill, the new act is to enter into force on 1 January 2026. However, whether this date will ultimately be met will depend on the pace of further legislative work.