Labour Code - Poland

Polish Labour Code, 1974

In its Proclamation of 23 December 1997, the Minister of Labour and Social Policy issued an updated and consolidated text of the Polish Labour Code. The Labour Code defines an employee as a person employed on the basis of a contract of employment, an appointment, an election, a nomination, or a cooperative contract of employment (art. 2.). An employer is defined as any organisational unit even if it has no legal personality, and any legal person if they engage employees. Article 9 of the Labour Code stipulates that collective agreements, rules and regulations and statutes determining rights and responsibilities of the parties to an employment relationship are all components of labour law. Consequently basic principles of labour law, which include the principles of equality and non-discrimination, are applicable to legislators, employers and their organisations and trade unions.

In addition to matters relating to the employment relationship, the Labour Code regulates the protection of women’s work.

The Code stipulates the principle of equal rights of men and women at work as a basic principle of labour law in Poland:

"Employees shall have equal rights resulting from the performance of identical duties; this shall apply in particular to the equal treatment of men and women in the area of work" (art. 11 (2).).

It also prohibits discrimination in employment on account of sex:

"Any discrimination in employment relationships, particularly in respect of sex... shall be prohibited" (art. 11 (3).).

The Labour Code defines working hours as the time during which the worker is at the disposal of an establishment. Hence, hours of work not only means the actual time during which work was performed, but also the time of readiness for work and breaks in work (art. 128).

Article 176 contains a section on protecting women at work and prohibits the employment of women in jobs particularly strenuous to their health.

The Labour Code gives pregnant women and those bringing up young children a right against unfair dismissal. Under the code, an employer is not allowed to dismiss a women who is pregnant or on maternity leave, unless she has not complied with the terms of her contract and the trade union representing her agrees to the dismissal (art. 177.1).

Overtime work, night work, and business trips are banned for pregnant women (art. 178.1) and for women bringing up children of under the age of four (Art. 178.2).

Article 179. 1 obligates employers to transfer a pregnant woman to another position if she performs work that the law prohibits her performing in her condition, or if she submits a medical certificate that states she cannot continue her current work due to her pregnancy. If the transfer results in lower pay, she is entitled to a compensatory allowance. When the reasons for the transfer are no longer valid, employers must return the employee to the work defined in her contract.

The Code provides women the right to maternity leave. Since 1999, female workers have been granted 20 weeks maternity leave for their first and consequent childbirths, and 30 weeks in respect of multiple childbirths. The Senate endorsed the proposal to extend maternity leave, but it adopted a compromise solution according to which extended maternity leave should be introduced in two stages. In the year 2000, women would be entitled to 4 more weeks of leave. From 2001, women would be entitled to another 6 weeks for each birth and 9 weeks in the case of a multiple birth. The Senate proposed that women be allowed to decide whether they want to take this additional 4 weeks (art. 180 and 189 (2).). According to the original Labour Code, 1997, an employee bringing up an adopted child or a foster child is entitled to 18 weeks of maternity leave after the first birth.

A woman who has adopted or fostered a child less than four months of age is entitled to up to 14 weeks of maternity leave and up to four weeks for a child under the age of one year (art. 183 and 189 (2).).

Article 184 guarantees the right of an employee to maternity benefit whilst on maternity leave.

A pregnant woman has the right to be exempt from normal duties in order to undergo medical check-ups related to pregnancy as recommended by a physician, if such check-ups cannot be done after working hours. She retains the right to receive remuneration for the time she is absent from work (Art. 185.2).

A breast-feeding mother on a full-time contract has the right to two half-hour breaks or two 45 minute breaks in the case of twins, to breast-feed her baby during working hours. Workers forfeit this right if they work less than four hours a day (art. 187.).

Since 1996, both male and female employees are equally entitled to childcare leave (arts. 186, 188 and 189.). All workers employed for at least six months, in any company or plant, have the right to take childcare leave to take personal care of a child for a period of three years, up to the fourth year of the child's life. The leave can be prolonged for the next three years if the child so requires on account of its health. The parent that avails herself/ himself of this right retains her/his employment rights throughout the leave period. The childcare leave is included in the employee's tenure. The Code (art. 188 and 189.) entitles both employed parents with children under the age of fourteen to two days of childcare leave per year while preserving their right to remuneration. Provisions regulating childcare leave and benefits are further prescribed by an Order of the Council of Ministers.