Press archive

Borrowers stand higher chances of winning lawsuits. Swiss franc loans commonly include an indexation mechanism permitting banks to convert loan amounts to a different currency and that mechanism is often considered by courts to be abusive and thus unlawful. Borrowers increasingly find favor with not only the Court of Justice of the European Union but also common courts in Poland.

Entrepreneurs must remember that they need to decide by 31 March 2019 on how long they will pay conversion fees that replace annual perpetual usufruct fees. Is it a good idea to take advantage of tax reliefs available when converting perpetual usufruct into freehold (and if yes, how to do it)?

Defining the scope and nature of shared information is crucial for accurate valuation of a target company. A bidding company must, however, be particularly careful at each stage of the transaction, especially when the deal is between competitors. Before an antimonopoly clearance is received, both parties remain independent, competing businesses.

Notifications about verification of sick leave no longer have to be delivered in writing, as they may be given by telephone or sent via electronic means of communication.

A merger or acquisition deal should be well planned and antimonopoly regulations must be complied with.

New regulations provide for a general rule that employee files are retained for 10 years. In some cases, however, the 50-year period will apply. The year of signing the employment contract is of key significance.

The National Bank of Poland is a public institution, so the public have the right to inquire about salaries of its employees. Its President may face the State Tribunal if he refuses to provide such information. In Piotr Kryczek’s view, information on an individual’s salary is his or her personal data, but a valid public interest overrides that of an individual.

During a regular information programme on Polish Radio Two, Mariusz Busiło commented on an amendment of the Telecommunications Law that eliminates irregularities connected with an erroneous interpretation of the issue of rescission of a contract if its terms are changed over the telephone or via internet or if service charges are changed without a subscriber’s acceptance.

Since 1 December 2018 only digital doctor’s certificates will be used, with one exception. Paper certificates will be issued only when an employer has no profile on the PUE ZUS platform.

Starting from the new year, salaries in cash will be paid out only on an express request of employees. As a rule, salaries will be wired to employees' bank accounts.

Will it also be a day off for shopping centers’ employees? On October 24, 2018, the Lower House of the Polish Parliament passed a bill establishing a national holiday to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Poland. Despite simple rationale behind it, the bill stirred much controversy.

New rules for retention of employee records will come into force on January 1, 2019 and will result in reduced mandatory retention periods.

Some employers must designate a Data Protection Officer. If they do not designate an existing Information Security Controller, they must designate a DPO and notify the President of the Personal Data Protection Office by 31 July 2018.

Those employers who used monitoring before May 25, 2018 need to verify compliance of their practices with the new provisions of the Labor Code and inform employees about the monitoring. 

On June 27, 2018, criminal checks in financial institutions were legalized. Employers from this sector are now able to require candidates and employees to prove their clean criminal record.

A bill on rules for obtaining information on clean criminal records of job candidates and employees of financial sector entities is making its way through the Polish Parliament. Once enacted, the law will legalize criminal background checks. Concurrently, as part of preparations for GDRP implementation, work is underway to amend rules on employee data processing in the Polish Labor Code.

The new EU personal data protection regulations will come into force in as little as six weeks. It is apparent that the Polish government and parliament will not manage to implement amendments in legal regulations covering employment, banking, insurance and other sectors of the national economy in order to establish new rules for personal data collection and processing.

The government’s failure to implement these regulations may result in problems and liability of Polish employers for personal data processing.

Draconian punishments provided for breaches of personal data protection regulations come to the fore in the atmosphere of fear stirred in various publications. Offers of effective protection against problems caused by the GDPR abound. The essence of the new regulations, namely making privacy protection more real and not intensified checks and administrative repressions, are lost in communication.

The Polish government is to work on an amendment of the personal data protection regulations to enable the financial sector to collect sensitive data on the criminal past of candidates applying for work in banks, investment funds or insurance companies.

On January 1, 2018 an unfavorable change in law concerning the 50% creative works deductions rate will come into force. From that date on, the preferential rate will be limited to specific professions.

The Polish government has drafted two mutually exclusive bills permitting employers to screen job candidates. It points to a lack of coordination between the Ministry for Economic Development and the Digitization Ministry.

How to understand the “employer’s need” to delegate an employee to a different work? Is such need subjective? Can an employee challenge it?

A civil law agreement may be legally signed with an employee only for a different type of work. Such agreement, however, must not have any features typical of the employment relationship.

Medical companies and operators of various healthcare facilities must remember that any treatment without a patient’s consent is unlawful. Without it doctors are exposed to criminal and disciplinary liabilities.

Employee health assessment is particularly difficult when workers return to work after a long absence. They cannot be permitted to work until they have a physician’s clearance.

Can employers ask their staff to work overtime everyday if there are periodic workforce shortages? If despite prior plans an employer is unable to organize work as required, can this fact justify recalling employees from holiday leave? Can an employer decide that all employees take leave at the same time and close the plant down for this period?

Healthcare facilities as data controllers must grant access to medical documentation in compliance with law. If such documentation is made available unlawfully, the responsible facility may face patients’ claims of violating their personal rights, criminal liability and liability for breach of medical confidentiality.

If an employer starts granting bonuses without setting out any rules, he risks disputes with employees and gives rise to doubts as to whether to include such bonuses in the allowance calculation base.

Full-time employment means that employees must be given at least the minimum terms set out in the Labor Code. Some of these terms may be proportionally reduced in the case of part-time employment.

Whilst supporting the view that driving innovativeness is a step towards a more competitive economy, the Ministry of Economic Development is responding to proposals of innovative entrepreneurs and planning to create a start-up friendly ecosystem.

Contractors’ travel connected with performance of a contract is not a business travel within the meaning of the labor law but many labor law provisions may be applied by analogy.

If an employee is not successful during the term of a trial-period contract, another contract for the same position may be signed with that employee three years after the end of the trial period. This does not apply when a new trial-period contract is to concern work of a different type.

Start-up founders stand the greatest chance of shaping mutual relations and wording the articles of association at a time when they negotiate an start-up investment or cooperation with a venture fund or investor.

An employee may not be permitted to work unless he produces a medical certificate stating that there are no contraindications for him to perform any of the duties he has performed so far. Otherwise, his boss must decide whether to dismiss or assign him a different range of duties.

If a parent works part time while receiving a maternity benefit, the benefit is proportionally lower but is paid out for a longer period. How to calculate it?

Some decisions of employers need only to be consulted with a body representing employees, but implementation of these decisions without such consultations may be invalid.

Before entrepreneurs pay a court fee and begin to draft an appeal, they must make sure that the ruling of the National Appeals Chamber they plan to appeal against is appealable in this procedure.

To accept a work created by a contractor under a civil law contract is not enough to acquire copyrights to that work. It is particularly important in firms whose business is based on creativity, such as advertising agencies or IT companies.

Under the law, employers acquire copyrights to works created by employees. However, such works are not always owned by the employer, and copyrights may in certain circumstances return to employees.

When an entrepreneur is convinced that a contracting entity has violated the law and is considering filing an appeal with the National Appeals Chamber, he or she must know what type of decision may be delivered.

Entrepreneurs losing a case before the National Appeals Chamber have one more option open to them: file an appeal with a court of law.

The long-awaited legal changes to permit the financial sector to vet job candidates have been scrapped. According to the “Morawiecki Plan”, entities subject to financial supervision were to be allowed to ask candidates about their criminal records.

Not all personal data may be collected under Polish law in the course of recruitment. This limitation also applies to reviewing the criminal records of job applicants.

Women who gave birth to a child last year should be mindful of deadlines for submission of applications for another term of benefits.

An entrepreneur participating in a tender may appeal against an unlawful act committed by the employer in the course of tender proceedings, or against the non-performance of actions.

First-time entrepreneurs are entitled to pay reduced ZUS contributions for two years. This period is not extended if business operations are suspended.

An employer who undergoes a transformation and takes over employees is not bound by their post-employment non-compete contracts. This also applies to former employees who were bound by non-compete contracts.

When a company employs at least 20 employees, the employer must introduce workplace and remuneration regulations. There are also many other things that must be done.

There is only one week left to settle outstanding holiday leave for 2015. Employers must grant overdue holiday leave by 30 September or face a fine if inspected by the State Labor Inspection Office.

During the notice period employees may take time off to look for a job or take holiday leave, while employers may unilaterally release employees from the obligation to work.

The terms “posting” and “business trip” are often used interchangeably and confused. The correct classification of a foreign trip determines the range of benefits available to an employee and the employer’s duties.

An act suspending sales of real estate from the Agricultural Property Stock of the State Treasury and amending other laws came into force in April 2016. It fundamentally transformed its provisions giving rise to practical doubts related to trading in agricultural land.

When introducing bonuses as another element of salaries, employers must specify in detail the entitlement conditions to mitigate the risk of disputes with employees.

Removal is the only legal option provided for in the Commercial Companies Code of depriving a shareholder of membership in a company.

New regulations raising the school age up to seven will not come into force until September. This means that six-year olds have taken up toddlers’ places in kindergartens unlawfully.

In the recent months, the Polish government and Members of Parliament have drafted a number of labor law amendments that will affect the Polish labor market. What will change?

The Polish Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy presented a bill to amend the Minimum Wage Act and other legislation. The proposed regulations are revolutionary and, if effected, will put Poland at the forefront of European countries setting out strict rules for work under civil-law contracts.

The legal regulations on term contracts apply to substitution contracts signed before 22 February 2016. This means that the grounds for the conclusion of substitution contracts must be added by 22 May 2016. Refusal of an employee to comply may even result in contract termination.

The "Mega Act" bill, drafted by the Polish Ministry of Digital Affairs to expedite and facilitate the execution of telecom projects, in particular the roll-out of broadband networks, has stirred up a great deal of controversy.

On 22 February 2016, fundamental amendments to the regulations on definite-term contracts came into force. The amendments apply to all contracts, whether executed after or before this date, and impose certain duties on employers.

Under the previous Bond Act, the institution of a bondholders’ meeting did not exist, though parties regularly provided for it in bond issue terms. The new Bond Act of 15 January 2015 introduced the bondholders’ meeting and clarified the conditions for the effective amendment of bond issue terms.

The right to collect benefits from the bequeathed item right depends on the good faith of the ordinary legatee, but heirs may challenge this good faith in court, the Supreme Court ruled.

After a breakdown of marriage, spouses often conclude that it is unfair to split their joint property on the assumption that each of them contributed to it equally.

A party to a contract providing for telework during employment may ask that this form of work be terminated and that previous employment conditions be restored within three months of the commencement of telework.

Employers have the right to check how employees use company equipment entrusted to them. First, however, staff need to be notified about the rules governing the monitoring. Otherwise, employees may claim that their personal rights have been violated.

The new Restructuring Law of May 15, 2015 came into force on January 1, 2016. Its primary objective is to help companies in temporary financial distress stay in business.

Many employers, are wondering whether they can keep a record of the working hours of employees based on data from access control card readers or the times when employees log in to their computers or an intranet.