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.
Article 13 of the Act on informing and consulting employees; Article 28 of the Act on trade unions; Article 2 of the Act on special principles of termination of employment contracts with employees for reasons not related to employees - 'Collective Dismissals Act'
According to the law, a special body for informing and consulting employees (works council) can be established in companies with more than 50 employees, but only upon written request of 10% of the workforce. This means that without employees' initiative the employer is not legally obliged to establish such a body. The works council may coexist with other forms of employee representation and it does not replace the trade union (if such exists).
Employers shall provide the works council with information on:
Employers shall undertake consultation with the works council on such matters with a view to reaching an agreement between the works council and the employer.
Trade unions present in the company have the right to obtain information and to be consulted, yet the scope of this information is limited to issues which are necessary to conduct trade unions' activity (working conditions and wages) and/or are related to extraordinary situations (transfer of undertaking, collective dismissals). Legislation is more detailed in regard to collective dismissals (within 30 days, at least 10 dismissals in companies with 20-99 employees, or at least 10% of workforce in companies with 100-299 employees, or 30 dismissals in larger companies).
An employer must provide specific information about the planned dismissals to the trade union representatives or, in the absence of trade unions, to employees’ representatives. This should occur in advance - at least at the same time as the employment office is informed - so that the representatives of trade unions or employees are able to submit their proposals as part of the consultation process. For instance, they might propose measures to avoid collective redundancies or to reduce their consequences, for example training of workers.
The consultation shall specifically cover measures to avoid collective redundancies or reduce their scale, as well as support measures for the redundant workers, and specifically, opportunities for the employees to be made redundant to qualify for other jobs or to be retrained, or to secure other employment.
The employer is obliged to notify the company trade unions in writing about the following:
The employer is obliged either to conclude an agreement with trade union representatives (within 20 days following the notification) or - if there is no trade union in the company - to issue a dismissals regulation after consultations with employees' representatives.
In practice, the role of the works council in the restructuring process in terms of information and consultation is marginal. This is due to the weakness of the legislation in this area, which casts doubt on the correct implementation of Directive 2002/14/EC establishing a general framework for informing and consulting employees in the European Community. The social partners do not raise this issue because both sides are rather sceptical about the relevance of works councils. Employers generally see them as a disruption to management, and unions often see them as a threat to themselves. There are, however, some initiatives by NGOs to support works councils.
It is important to stress that the number of works councils in Poland is extremely low. According to the latest available data (November 2016) from the Central Statistical Office, in 2015 there were 18,104 companies with 50 or more employees. Of these, 14,724 companies employed between 50 and 249 people and 3,380 companies employed more than 249 people. According to the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, only 3,520 works councils were registered by 28 February 2017. In many cases there is no information on whether they continue to operate for successive terms.
Eurofound (2015), Poland: Staff information and consultation on restructuring plans, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/staff-information-and-consultation-on-restructuring-plans/poland
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