European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
Eurofound's ERM database on restructuring-related legal regulations provides information on regulations in the Member States of the European Union and Norway which are explicitly or implicitly linked to anticipating and managing change.
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In cases of collective redundancies (within 30 days, dismissals of at least 10 employees in companies with 20-99 workers, at least 10% of workforce in firms with 100-299 workers or 30 dismissals in larger companies than 300 employees) employers must provide (in writing) specific information about the planned dismissals to the company trade union or employees' representatives. This should occur in advance to enable the trade union or employees' representatives to start a consultation process and make own proposals. The consultation shall specifically cover the possibility of avoiding the collective redundancies or reducing their scale. Also employment matters shall be discussed related to such redundancies, and specifically chances of the employees planned to be made redundant to qualify for other jobs, retraining, or to secure other employment (outplacement).
The employer is obliged to provide the trade union or employees' representatives with the following information (in writing):
Except of the information about payments the same information should be delivered by employer to local employment office at the same time.
The employer is obliged either to conclude an agreement with trade unions (within 20 days of notification) or issue a dismissals regulation after consultation with employees' representative if there is no trade union.
If the employer and trade unions do not reach an agreement, the employer needs to issue a dismissals regulation. This should take into consideration the process of negotiation with trade unions.
It is only generally written in Polish law that the employer and trade unions or employees' representatives (if there are no trade unions at the workplace) should negotiate and consider the issue of alternatives to collective dismissals. But there is no clear binding indication to what extent the employer must take alternative measures. So, it is hard to say that there are any legal obligations to consider alternatives to collective dismissal.
Social partners, in addition to general statements that radical solutions should be avoided, have not come up with any common position concerning the issue.
Eurofound (2015), Poland: Obligation to consider alternatives to collective dismissals, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/obligation-to-consider-alternatives-to-collective-dismissals/poland
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