Have you worked 5 years under a contract of mandate and for another 7 years were you self-employed? Have you been self-employed for the last 10 years? In the eyes of the law, job seniority for those years in both cases is exactly zero. This is not fair - and we decided to change that.  

In response to this problem, we have drafted a bill in the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, which provides that periods of self-employment and work under a contract of mandate will count towards job seniority. 

On 22 July 2025, the first reading of the bill, an amendment to the Labour Code, was held in the Sejm. 

Self-employment and contract of mandate is also work 

There are thousands of such people in Poland. People who, despite years of experience, start from scratch when they sign an employment contract. Who, in the eyes of the law, have less job seniority than a person who has been working under an employment contract, e.g. for a year. They have 20, rather than 26, days of holiday, and cannot count on job seniority allowance - moreover, they are not allowed to start working in certain places requiring documented job seniority. Job seniority, not experience. Because their experience, even though long and best, does not count at all. (...) The Job Seniority Act is a recognition that work is work, and each work deserves to be respected, each deserves to be recognised, each deserves that what has been earned bear fruit in the future,

Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk said in the Sejm. 

Why is it so important? 

The aim of the proposed provisions is to level the playing field in terms of access to certain employee benefits - such as the right to longer leave or jubilee awards, job seniority allowance, but also to positions requiring proven work experience. 

Importantly, and something we were particularly keen to see, employees who have in the past worked under a contract of mandate or run a business will now receive new entitlements as a result of these periods being counted towards their job seniority. 

How will it work? 

According to the bill, the period of employment will include:   

• periods of running a business in sectors other than agriculture and cooperation with a person running such a business,  

• the period during which non-agricultural business activity was suspended to provide personal childcare.  

• periods of performance of a contract of mandate,  

• periods of provision of services, an agency contract and the period of being a collaborating person,  

• the period of affiliation to a farming cooperative and farmers cooperative association,  

• as well as a documented period spent abroad performing work on basis other than an employment contract. 

These periods will be confirmed by a special certificate issued by the Social Insurance Institution, which will confirm the employee's job seniority.   

If, for some reason, the Social Insurance Institution is unable to issue such a certificate (e.g. because the period of work was a long time ago), the employee will have the opportunity to prove job seniority with his or her own documents, confirming the period worked.   

We want the new rules to take effect from 1 January 2026.