What next for the reform of PIP?
The planned reform of the State Labour Inspectorate (“PIP”), which includes granting labour inspectors the authority to issue decisions transforming civil law contracts (e.g. contracts of mandate) into contracts of employment, has been called into question in recent weeks because of the position taken by the prime minister who is apparently opposed to the proposed form of the changes.
The information provided by Rzeczpospolita (rp.pl) is that during discussions at governmental level the idea was raised that PIP inspectors could issue decisions, but that the validity of them would be subject to approval by a court. The Ministry of Justice is to be involved in the reform to designate a special judicial pathway to achieve that. Proponents believe that that would enable effective examination of matters to do with the transformation of contracts.
So far, an updated draft bill has not been published. However, the Government Legislation Centre's website has published a draft of the regulations proposed by the Labour Protection Council (“ROP”). Among other things, it provides that ROP could submit a request to parliament to commission the Supreme Audit Office to audit the activities of PIP. In addition, there would be an external audit of PIP at least once every two years.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Polish Entrepreneurs has proposed an alternative bill that would gradually align over the next five years the rules for social security contributions on contracts of mandate to those that apply to contracts of employment.