The primary objective of the Act is to combat the practice of forcing workers into bogus civil-law contracts, thereby depriving them of their statutory employment rights. The Act shall not amend the Labour Code, but it introduces tools to ensure the effective enforcement of the legislation already in force. 

The reform will also protect honest entrepreneurs from unfair competition which has gained advantage over the years at the expense of employees.  

Above all, this is good news for millions of Polish employees - for those who are waiting for the state to finally support them. That the state will protect them from the injustice of being forced into junk jobs, self-employment or bogus self-employment. It is a positive sign that the state will stand by the employee

- Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk comments. 

Decision converting incorrectly concluded contracts  

The main assumption of the Act is to grant regional labour inspectors the power to issue decisions converting an incorrectly concluded contract – for example, a contract for specific work – into an employment contract. However, this will not be a single-person decision made by the inspector alone but a properly designed, multi-stage process protecting all parties.  

If any irregularities are detected, the State Labour Inspection will, in the first instance, issue orders to remedy the breaches. Only if this is not performed, the PIP inspector will be able to submit a request to the Regional Labour Inspector for a decision converting the incorrectly concluded contract into an employment contract.  

Both the employer and the employee will be able to appeal against this decision to the labour court, which will suspend its enforcement until a ruling is issued.  

Importantly, provision has been made for the possibility of securing a claim for the duration of the court proceedings. In the period covered by the guarantee, the contract between the parties may be amended, terminated or rescinded only in accordance with the provisions of the labour law. This means that, until the dispute has been finally resolved, the person subject to the guarantee cannot be deprived of protection simply because they have formally entered into a civil law contract. In the event of the contract being terminated or rescinded, the person is entitled to legal remedies provided for in the labour law. 

What else? 

The Act also introduces measures such as: 

• introduction of an individual interpretation procedure – an employer will be able to apply to the State Labour Inspection (PIP) to check whether the way of employing their staff complies with the law and, if not, how to bring their practices into line with the law; 

• enabling data exchange between the State Labour Inspection (PIP), the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) and the National Revenue Administration (KAS) in order to streamline inspections;  

• introduction of a possibility for the PIP to carry out remote inspections; 

• introduction of a requirement for the PIP to draw up annual and multi-annual action plans for targeted inspections based on risk analysis; 

• at least a twofold increase in the maximum fine that the PIP may impose in summary proceedings.