27 setembro 2022 Monika Krzyszkowska-Dabrowska Employment and Incentives

Employment Practice: Alert

Legislative work is still underway on the implementation into the Labour Code of Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers.

As part of the next alert in the series, we want to prepare you for the upcoming changes, this time discussing in particular the subject of planned leave of absence due to force majeure, additional care leave, changes in parental, paternity and childcare leave as well flexible work organization in accordance with the current draft version of the regulations. They will probably only be adopted only within the fortcoming months, despite the fact that the draft act amending the Act - Labour Code and other acts has already been presented and that the formal deadline for its implementation by Poland elapsed in the beginning of August 2022.

Important issues:

  • A new type of leave: leave of absence due to force majeure for two days or sixteen hours. An employee is to be able to obtain, upon their request, additional leave from work amounting to 2 days or 16 hours in a given calendar year (with half of the remuneration calculated as holiday pay) - due to force majeure in case of urgent family matters caused by illness or accident, if the employees’ immediate presence is required.
  • An additional five days of unpaid leave to care for family members. Employees are also to have the right to apply (in paper or electronic form, once or in part) for a new unpaid care leave for up to 5 days in a calendar year in order to provide personal care or support to a family member or resident in the same household who requires care or support due to serious medical reasons.
  • Extending the length of parental leave and granting a non-transferable part of it to each parent. The Directive provides for individual rights for both men and women relating to parental leave. In order to encourage fathers to take parental leave, while maintaining the right of each parent to at least four months of parental leave, it extends the minimum non-transferable period of parental leave from one to two months and extends the period for which parents can share parental leave.
  • Changing the rules on how maternity allowance is granted. As a result, the newly drafted regulations provide for changes in the amount of maternity allowance, which is supposed to be 70% of the base salary for the entire period of parental leave. However, if an employee submits an application for the parental leave no later than 21 days after childbirth, the monthly maternity allowance (jointly for the period of maternity and parental leave) is to amount to 81.5% of the allowance calculation basis.
  • Shortening the period of use of paternity leave. The period during which the father may take paternity leave is to be shortened. This is expected to be 12 months (instead of the current 24 months) from the baby's birth.
  • Modifications to child care leave. They concern in particular the form of applying for child care leave and the rules concerning using reduced working time during the period of entitlement to parental leave.
  • Extending the existing rights of parents of children up to 4 years of age. According to the newly drafted rules, an employee that raises a child up to the age of 8 is to perform work in overtime, at night, in the interrupted working time system and when delegating them outside the regular workplace, only upon his/her consent.
  • Flexible organisation of work. Flexible work organization will be available to employees that are raising a child until they turn 8 years old (as a rule) and may include: telework (and soon remote work), interrupted working time, shortened work week system, weekend work system, flexible working hours, individual work schedule.
  • Extended protection rules: prohibition even to prepare for termination of employment during the protection period.
  • Protection against unfavourable treatment due to the exercise of employee rights.
  • Complex transitional rules. Rules of conduct regarding parental rights under the transitional provisions have been designed in a complex manner.

We invite you to read the Alert!