On February 1 this year, the call for applications for the new benefit period under the Family 800+ programme will start, which will last until June 1 this year. Applications can only be submitted electronically.

On Thursday, the first reading of the draft law on the conditions for allowing foreigners to work on the territory of the Republic of Poland took place in the Sejm. We are committed to regulating the labour market so that it is safe and fair for all participants. The Law also fulfils one of the milestones established in the National Recovery Plan.

On Monday, the Minister for Family, Labour and Social Policy, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, visited the "Senior+" Senior Support Centre in Bielany, Warsaw, at the invitation of the mayor of the Bielany district, Grzegorz Pietruczuk. It was an opportunity to express wishes on the occasion of Grandmother's and Grandfather's Day, as well as to learn more about the activities of the facility.

On January 22 this year, the next round of negotiations for a draft agreement between Poland and Japan in the field of social security was held. The Polish side was represented by Sebastian Gajewski, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, and the Japanese side by, among others, Mizuno Mitsuaki, Treaty Negotiator, European Policy Division at the European Affairs Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

The Minister for Family, Labour and Social Policy, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, met with the management of the Central Institute for Labour Protection - National Research Institute. The talks focused on the Institute's key health and safety activities and projects.

The Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk and the Deputy Ministers Aleksandra Gajewska and Sebastian Gajewski met with representatives of the All-Poland Alliance "Together for Preterm Births" (Ogólnopolskie Porozumienie „Razem dla Wcześniaków”). The talks concerned the issue of maternity leave for mothers of prematurely born children.

According to the European Statistical Office, the unemployment rate in Poland in November last year was 2.8 per cent. We stay in the lead, taking third place in this respect, after the Czech Republic and Malta.

The Family 800+ programme has been launched. The benefit has been given to almost 7 million children. However, there are signals about the use of the payment of this benefit for fraudulent practices.

On 1 January 2024, a new form of support for adults with disabilities, the Support Allowance, came into force. Importantly, its award will not depend on an income criterion but on a defined level of support need.

The newly appointed Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy, Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, met with journalists at the Ministry's head office to talk about the direction of activities in the near future. - The restoration of the Ministry of Labour name is a symbolic but very important signal I would like to send today to the millions of working Poles: your work is appreciated and will be appreciated, the Minister said.