- Phase
- Act of 26.06.1974 -Labour Code;
Act of 11.10.2013 on special solutions related to the protection of jobs
- Native name
- Ustawa z dnia 26.06.1974 r. - Kodeks pracy;
Ustawa z dnia 11.10.2013 r. o szczególnych rozwiązaniach związanych z ochroną miejsc pracy
- Type
- Working time flexibility
- Added to database
- 08 May 2015
Article
Article 129, 135, 136, 137, 138, 140(1), 143, 144, 145, 146, 150, 237(11a), 237(13a) -Act of 26.06.1974 - Labour Code;
Article 3, 4, 5 - Act of 11.11.2013 on special solutions related to the protection of jobs
Description
Polish labour law stipulates that working time must not exceed 8 hours in a 24-hour period and an average of 40 hours in an average five-day working week in an applicable reference period not exceeding 4 months.
Working time may be reduced below these norms for employees working in particularly arduous or harmful conditions by providing for breaks from work that count as working time or by reducing these norms; in the case of monotonous work or work at a fixed pace, breaks from work that count as working time may also be provided. The list of jobs involving strenuous or monotonous work must be determined by the employer after consultation with the employees or their representatives in the manner and in accordance with the principles defined in Article 237(11a) and (13a) of the Labour Code on consultation with the employees' representative and after consultation with a doctor responsible for the preventive health care of employees as described in Article 145 of the Labour Code.
There are also provisions that allow working time to be reduced in special circumstances, which are included in the Act on Special Solutions Related to Job Protection. This law applies to employers who have experienced a decrease in economic activity, defined as the sale of goods or services, calculated in terms of quantity or value, of no less than 15% in total, calculated as a ratio of total turnover for 6 consecutive months during a period of 12 months prior to the date of application for benefits. If the employer's situation meets the above conditions, an agreement can be reached with the trade unions (or with the employees' representative if there is no trade union at the workplace) to reduce working hours by a maximum of 50%. The remuneration of the employees concerned (up to the minimum wage) and the allowance for the reduction of working hours (up to the amount of the unemployment benefit) are financed by the Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund (Fundusz Gwarantowanych Świadczeń Pracowniczych).
Amendments to the Labour Code were introduced in August 2013, allowing greater flexibility in working time arrangements.
The first change concerns the possibility of extending the reference period. Within any system of working time arrangements, the reference period (working time accounting period) may be extended up to 12 months if this is justified by objective, technical or organisational reasons. This option generally applies to the entire workforce of the enterprise. The other change was the introduction of flexitime, which means that the work schedule may provide for different starting times or specify the period within which the employee must start work (e.g. from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m.) This option is more personal and can be tailored to the needs of a particular employee.
Both schemes can only be introduced through agreements with employee representatives. If there are trade unions in a company, such an agreement must be made with them. In a non-unionised company, a similar agreement must be made with employee representatives. In the latter case, the employees' bargaining position is weaker, as these representatives do not enjoy any protection under Polish law (they are not the same as representatives - members of the works council, who only have information and consultation rights). The Labour Inspectorate must be informed no later than 5 working days after the agreement is concluded.
There are also working time arrangements other than the basic one which contain some element of flexibility. The systems of working time organisation for extension of working time duration beyond 8 hours in a 24-hour period (art.135–138 and 143-144 Labour Code) are the following:
- work in an equivalent working time system, which provides for the possibility of extending the duration of work to 12 hours in a 24-hour period during a reference period not exceeding one month, or three months in particularly justified cases, and four months in the case of work dependent on the season or weather conditions (Art. 135 of the Labour Code).
- Work in an equivalent working time system, which consists in the supervision of equipment or where workers are required to be on call at certain times. This provides a limited possibility to extend working time to 16 hours in a 24-hour period during a reference period not exceeding one month, while retaining the right to rest during a period at least equal to the number of hours spent at work, regardless of the weekly rest period (Art. 136 Labour Code). In the case of workers employed in an equivalent working time system for guarding property or persons, as well as employees of fire brigades and company rescue services, the working time may be extended to 24 hours in a reference period not exceeding 1 month, which may be extended to 3 months in special situations and to 4 months for types of work dependent on the season or weather conditions. In this system, the worker retains the right to rest during a period at least equal to the number of hours worked, irrespective of the weekly rest period (art. 137 of the Labour Code).
- continuous work (work that cannot be stopped due to production technology or the need to continuously satisfy the needs of the population). This makes it possible to extend working time up to 12 hours in a day in some weeks within the average 43-hour weekly working time standard in the adopted reference period not exceeding 4 weeks (art. 138 of the Labour Code).
- Short-time working system, which may be applied to employees on the basis of their written request. In such a system, the employee may work less than 5 days a week, with a simultaneous extension of the daily working time up to 12 hours, within a reference period not exceeding 1 month (Art. 143 of the Labour Code).
- Weekend work system. This is applied on the basis of a written request by an employee for whom the working time system provides for work to be performed only on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. In such a system, it is possible to extend working time, but not more than 12 hours at a time in a reference period not exceeding one month (Art. 144 of the Labour Code).
- Interrupted working time system (art. 139 of the Labour Code). This working time system may be applied if it is justified by the nature of the work or its organisation. The working time schedule must be decided in advance. It may provide for a maximum of one break from work in a 24-hour period. The break shall not be counted as working time. However, an employee shall be entitled to remuneration equal to half of the remuneration due for the time of the break. The break may not exceed 5 hours.
Sources
- Clauwaert, S. and Schömann I. (2013), The crisis and national labour law reforms: a mapping exercise. Country report: Poland, ETUI Working Paper, European Trade Union Institute, Brussels
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http://www.internationallawoffice.com/newsletters/detail.aspx?g=53b0e67e-fe3d-4cac-b330-e6df571cc350
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Palubicki, R. and Nowotna, K. (2013), New working time regulations, International Law Office
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Labour Code (in Polish)
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Ministerstwo Rodziny, Pracy i Polityki Spolecznej, Coraz wiecej firm korzysta z elastycznych form czasu pracy
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Rączka, K. (2014), 'Komentarz do art 129', in Kodeks Pracy -Komentarz, Małgorzata Gersdorf, M. Raczkowski, K. Rączka, Warszawa, LexisNexis
Citation
Eurofound (2015), Poland: Working time flexibility, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin,
https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/working-time-flexibility/poland