Poland
Answer ... All pregnant employees who work on the basis of an employment contract in Poland are entitled to maternity leave directly after giving birth. As a rule, maternity leave is mandatory (although it may be reduced at the mother’s request and transferred to the father).
After the maternity leave has been used up, an employee is entitled to voluntary parental leave, which may be granted to either parent.
It is possible to work part time while on parental leave (but not on maternity leave), with the employer’s consent. In this case, parental leave is granted for the remaining working hours (its nominal length is respectively extended).
Additionally, all insured fathers are entitled to two weeks of voluntary paid paternity leave, which can be taken until the child is 24 months old. Paternity leave is independent from maternity leave.
As a rule, until the end of the calendar year in which the child turns six years old, parents can apply for voluntary upbringing leave or, alternatively, to have their working hours reduced (to no less than 0.5 full-time equivalent).
Pregnant employees and employees on maternity leave, paternity leave, parental leave or upbringing leave are protected against termination of their employment. The same applies to employees with reduced working hours. In the latter case, however, the protection exists only during the first 12 months.
These rules do not apply to persons who are employed under civil law agreements.
Poland
Answer ... Maternity leave lasts for 20 weeks, six of which can be taken before the birth date. In case of a multiple birth, the leave will be extended to up to 37 weeks, depending on the number of children.
Parental leave may last up to 32 weeks (34 in case of a multiple birth). If the parents take their parental leave simultaneously, the combined number of weeks cannot exceed the number indicated above.
Upbringing leave may last up to 36 months.
Benefits for the birth of a child are paid by the state and are awarded to persons covered by sickness insurance (which as a rule is mandatory for all employees, but voluntary for some contractors).
The whole period of both maternity and parental leave is payable. If the employee takes both types of leave in full, the average benefit will amount to 80% of average salary, although the exact figures may vary depending on the case.
Paternity leave is paid in the amount of 100% of the average salary.
No benefits are granted during upbringing leave.
Regardless of the above, parents are entitled to receive child benefit paid by the state in the amount of PLN 500 per month per child, until the child turns 18.
Poland
Answer ... In principle, in order for a trade union to exercise its rights vis-à-vis an employer, the union must have at least 10 members.
The powers of a trade union include, in particular:
- representing individual employees and contractors in their relations with the employer (eg, giving an opinion or, in some cases, approval to the termination of an employee);
- influencing the content of regulations regarding the conditions for collective redundancies;
- influencing the content of labour and pay regulations at the company;
- determining the rules for the use of funds allocated by the employer for social activities for the benefit of employees and their families; and
- controlling the safety of working conditions.
Trade unions also have the right to receive from the employer information necessary for the conduct of trade union activities, in particular concerning:
- work and pay conditions;
- the employer’s activities and economic situation in relation to employment, and projected changes in this respect;
- the state, structure and anticipated changes in headcount, and measures to maintain employment levels; and
- activities that may cause significant changes to the organisation of work or the basis of employment.
In practice, some of the trade union’s powers overlap with those of the works council.
Members of union authorities are also protected against termination and are entitled to receive remuneration from the company even when performing their roles in the union.
The unionisation level Poland currently stands at approximately 13%.
Poland
Answer ... In addition to general privacy rules stemming from the General Data Protection Regulation, the use of the personal data of job applicants and employees is also regulated in the Labour Code.
In Poland, it is forbidden to request job applicants to provide any information that falls outside a detailed list of data set out in the Labour Code. The employer can ask job applicants and employees for certain information provided that there are legal grounds for such request.
This makes all forms of background checks or recruitment processes for undisclosed employers legally questionable.
The Labour Code also sets out rules on employee surveillance. All forms of surveillance (eg, closed-circuit television (CCTV), email monitoring, network monitoring, GPS) must be announced to employees before implementation and monitored zones must be clearly marked.
Where work bylaws are in place, all forms of employee surveillance must be introduced by their amendment, which requires consultation with employee representatives.
Moreover, surveillance can be implemented only to achieve objectives that are recognised by law. An employer may use CCTV if this is necessary to:
- ensure the safety of employees;
- protect the employer’s property;
- control production; or
- keep confidential information whose disclosure could harm the employer.
Email monitoring and other forms of surveillance may be implemented to ensure the full use of working time and the proper use of the work tools provided by the employer.
Irrespective of any information included in the applicable bylaws, employees must be properly and individually informed about the ways in which their employer processes their personal data.
Poland
Answer ... Freelancers, independent contractors and consultants are not covered by any specific regulations. They are usually engaged directly by companies as external specialists, on the basis of civil law contracts, often within the framework of the business activity they run (under a business-to-business model). Arrangements regarding their pay must observe the statutory minimum hourly rate set for civil law relationships, which is PLN 18.30.
The on-demand labour pool in Poland is comprised of temporary workers, whose engagement is subject to specific statutory regulations. Such employees are engaged by a registered temporary work agency based on employment or civil law contracts, and are subsequently directed to the agency’s customers to perform tasks of, for example, a seasonal or ad hoc nature, or to replace an absent employee (certain types of work, such as work in particularly hazardous conditions, are excluded). As a rule, each temporary worker cannot perform work for one customer for more than 18 months within a period of 36 consecutive months.
Although there is no direct relationship between the temporary worker and the customer, the latter has several obligations with regard to engaging temporary staff – for example, to retain the respective records and ensure proper health and safety conditions for them. The temporary work agency and the customer should liaise to determine the appropriate salary and other employment conditions for the temporary employee, who must not be treated less favourably in this regard than the customer’s own employees in the same or similar position.
Other forms of employee leasing are not recognised by Polish labour law.