INDIVIDUAL DISMISSALS IN
POLAND
INTRODUCTION, SOURCES OF LAW
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The Polish labour law belongs to the continental systems of
labour law, in which the protection against dismissal has
traditionally played an important role
the Labour Code
 The Labour Code applies to all employees unless otherwise
provided
the Law on Collective Dismissals
 the law modifies the general rules when employees are made
redundant (for one or more reasons not related to the
individual employees). It is necessary to stress that CRA
regulates not only collective redundancies, but also individual
aspects of the termination of employment contracts due to
economic, organizational or technical reasons.
Moreover, there are also some special rules that apply to selected
groups of employees. For example, civil servants, who are
considered to be employees, enjoy stronger protection than other
employees; trade union officials (the Law on Trade Unions) or
members of work councils (the Law on Work Councils)
THE EVOLUTION OF THE POLISH
LAW ON INDIVIDUAL DISMISSALS
The initial version of the Code provided a relatively high
standard of protection
The issue of flexibility in employment, particularly within
enterprises, surfaced when the transition to a new economic
and social system began in 1989
Since that time the Labour Code has been amended several
times under the impact of the changing economic conditions
High unemployment rate and greater flexibility
the Polish legislator accepts greater flexibility of employment
on condition that the limitation of guaranteed protection may
contribute to the creation of new jobs
the role of the Supreme Court
more liberal interpretation of the law
In theory, the Polish law provides for a complex protection
against termination of the employment relationship. In
practice, two factors play a crucial role: what the type of the
contract is and whether or not the employee is represented by
a trade union.
METHODS OF THE TERMINATION OF
THE CONTRACT
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Mutual consent
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freedom of contracts
The expiration of fixed-term contracts
 Unilateral declarations of will by the employer or
the employee
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With period of notice
Without period of notice
There are also some formal requirements
concerning the declaration of will of the employer
(written form, information about the right to
appeal to the labour court, justification – if it is
required by the law)
 The protection against discrimination
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PERIOD OF NOTICE
 The
law determines the minimum periods
of notice.
 Parties are allowed to extend their
duration (because this is more favourable
for employees).
 The shortening of the period of notice, as
less favourable, is not allowed. The
parties may shorten the period of notice
only if it is expressly provided for by the
law. :
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after the legal act leading to the termination of
the contract has been already made and
in the case of liquidation or insolvency of the
employer as well as due to the reasons not
relating to employees
SPECIAL PROTECTION AGAINST
DISMISSAL
Special protection is provided for in the case of
some groups of employees irrespective of the
nature of their employment (it applies to all types
of contracts).
 Special protection may be justified either by the
personal situation of the employees or by the
social function that they perform.
 The ban on the termination is provided for in two
versions:
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a stronger one, when both giving the declaration of will
and the termination of the employment relationship are
prohibited, and
a weaker one, where the ban covers only giving the
notice. In the latter case, the employment contract
expires if the declaration of will is issued before the
protective period begins
SPECIAL PROTECTION AGAINST
DISMISSAL - EXAMPLES
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In Poland there are more than 40 groups of
employees who are granted special protection:
employees 4 years before retirement,
 employees on annual leave and during another
justified absence from work,
 employees during pregnancy, maternity, paternity
and parental leave,
 trade union officials, members of work councils,
European work councils
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REDUNDANCIES
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CRA regulates collective as well as individual redundancies.
In the latter case, the law applies if a reason not related to the
employee is the only reason for the termination of the employment
relationship (Art. 10.1 CRA).
CRA applies to employers employing at least 20 employees
Protection of the employer’s interests
 The law on collective redundancies mitigates both the general and
the special protection against dismissal. The majority of the
protected employees can be made redundant
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The protection against termination is abolished entirely in the case
of the employer’s bankruptcy or liquidation when, as a rule, the
entire workforce must be laid off
On the other hand, the law protects also, to a certain extent, the
employees’ interests
 severance payment
 re-employment
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Only in some instances, expressly indicated by CRA, the employer must not
terminate employment contracts – however, a change in the terms of
employment is acceptable.
RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES
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Employees who have been made redundant are entitled,
first of all, to a severance payment which mitigates the
negative consequences of the termination of the contract.
The amount of the severance payment depends on the
period of employment with the given employer and amounts
to:
 1 month’s wages, if the employee has been employed less
than 2 years;
 2 months’ wages, if the employee has been employed no
longer than 8 years;
 3 months’ wages, if the employee has been employed
longer than 8 years (Art. 8.1. CRA).
Employees who have been made redundant within
collective redundancies are also entitled to re-employment
if the employer decides to recruit workers again.
TERMINATION OF THE
EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT FOR AN
INDEFINITE DURATION
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In fact, employees employed under contracts of indefinite
duration enjoy the most efficient protection against dismissal.
The period of notice depends on the length of service at the given
establishment and amounts to:
 2 weeks, where an employee has been employed less than 6
months,
 1 month, where an employee has been employed for at least 6
months,
 3 months, where an employee has been employed for at least 3
years.
When dissolving an employment contract of indefinite duration,
the employer must meet two additional conditions.
 Firstly, the employer must justify the dismissal.
 Secondly, the employer must consult a trade union which
represents the employee.
REASONS JUSTIFYING THE
TERMINATION
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The termination with period of notice is a normal method of the
termination and may be justified by normal (typical) phenomena
pertaining either the situation of the employee or the needs of the
employer.
The first group comprises two categories:
 First of all, the employee may be dismissed if he/she has
neglected his/her duties.
 The dismissal is also fair in the following cases: long-lasting
incapacity for work, frequent absences from work,
incompetence or inefficiency (even if there is no breach of
contractual duties), loss of confidence in the employee, the
employee’s loss of qualifications necessary to perform his/her
job duties.
Redundancies may be motivated by economic, technical or
organizational reasons – in particular liquidation or bankruptcy
of the employer
The reason for the dismissal must be indicated in the employer’s
declaration of will. The explanation should be true, concrete and
understandable for the employee.
CONSULTATION WITH TRADE UNIONS
The consultation must take place before the employer
terminates the contract
 The employer must indicate reasons justifying the
termination of the employment contract
 The trade union may communicate its reasoned
objections to the employer
 The employer is not bound by the trade union’s opinion
 The employer may not request the list of all
employees covered by the protection of a trade union
(it would be inconsistent with the protection of
personal data).
 as a consequence, in each specific case the
employer must ask the trade unions if they
represent a specific employee
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TERMINATION OF FIXED-TERM
CONTRACTS
 As
a rule, fixed-term contracts expire, by virtue of
law
 The flexibility of fixed-term employment contracts
increases due to their relatively easy termination
before expiration date
 In practice, the law on terminating fixed-term
contracts is very liberal
 This solution distinguishes the Polish law from
numerous legal systems which allow such a
termination, apart from mutual agreement of the
parties, only in extraordinary cases such as force
majeure or serious misconduct of one of the parties
to the contract
PROBATIONARY PERIOD
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An employment contract for a probationary period may be
terminated by each party with a specific period of notice.
The decisive criterion is the period for which the contract
has been concluded: 3 working days, where the
probationary period is no longer than 2 weeks; 1 week,
where the probationary period is longer than 2 weeks; 2
weeks, where the probationary period is 3 months.
No justification is required.
 The high flexibility reflects the assumption that the
main objective of the probationary period is to facilitate
the appraisal of the employee’s skills and abilities by the
employer before he/she enters into an employment
relationship of permanent character.
EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS FOR A
DEFINITE DURATION (ART. 33 LC)
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This regulation stipulates that if the employment
contract is concluded for a period longer than six
months, the parties may terminate it with a two weeks’
notice
The termination requires neither justification nor
consultation with the trade union representing the
employee
If the requirements determined in Art. 33 L.C. are
fulfilled, the employer may terminate the employment
contract at any moment, simply by issuing a declaration
of will concerning the termination of the employment
relationship with a period of notice
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A clause allowing early termination may be introduced not
only at the time of the conclusion of the contract but also at a
later date
REPLACEMENT OF AN ABSENT WORKER
If the employment contract was concluded to replace
an absent employee over a specific period of time,
termination with a period of notice is possible at any
moment
 The period of notice is short, amounting to three
working days
 The termination requires neither justification nor
consultation with the trade union which represents the
employee
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COMPLETION OF A SPECIFIC TASK
A completely different situation exists as far as
the employment contract for the completion of a
specific task is concerned.
 As a rule employment contracts of this type
cannot be terminated before the objective is met
(the task is completed).
 For that reason, this type of contract gives the
employer a relatively low level of flexibility.
 As a consequence, the employment contract
concluded for the completion of a particular task
has not become a popular form of employment in
Poland.
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REASONS NOT RELATING TO EMPLOYEES
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Finally, fixed-term contracts of all kinds can be terminated
early with a period of notice in specific situations such as:
 liquidation or insolvency of the employer (Art. 411 par. 2
L.C.) and, if the employer employs no fewer than 20
employees, for reasons not related to individual
employees (i.e. on economic or organizational grounds).
The option to terminate an employment contract in such a
way is provided for in Art. 5.7. and Art. 10.1. CRA.
The only disadvantage is that the employer is obliged to
pay a severance allowance.
 There is no severance payment requirement if a fixedterm contract expires by virtue of law, even if the
reasons for which it is not renewed are based on the
employer’s decision.
TERMINATION WITHOUT PERIOD OF
NOTICE THROUGH EMPLOYEE’S OWN
FAULT
 The
employer may terminate the
employment contract without period of
notice where:
 the employee breaches its basic duties
 the employee commits a crime which
makes further employment impossible
 the employee loses the qualifications
necessary to perform work at a given
post
TERMINATION WITHOUT PERIOD OF
NOTICE JUSTIFIED BY OTHER REASONS
 The
employer may terminate the
employment relationship without period
of notice when justified absence from work
is of long duration
 When the absence is caused by an illness
the employer may terminate the contract
after six (nine) months
 When the absence is caused by other
reasons the employer may terminate the
contract if the break from work lasts for
over one month
REMEDIES FOR UNLAWFUL
TERMINATION
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Even in the case of a breach of the law the employer’s
declaration of will leads to the termination of the
employment contract
In the case of a wrongful (unfair) dismissal the employee
may appeal the employer’s decision to the labour court.
The employee may choose one of two alternative claims:
either reinstatement or compensation.
The freedom of choice is, however, limited.
 Reinstatement is limited by the law in the case of fixedterm contracts
 Claims for reinstatement may be also disregarded by
the court if reinstatement would be impossible
(elimination of the position) or pointless
REINSTATEMENT
The employee who has been reinstated must, within 7
days, report that he/she is ready to begin work
immediately
 Consequently, the employer must re-employ the
employee
 The employee who begins work as a result of
reinstatement is entitled to remuneration for the
period during which he/she was out of work
 The amount of remuneration is, however, limited.
 Only employees who enjoy special protection against
dismissal are entitled to the remuneration for the
entire period out of work
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COMPENSATION INSTEAD OF
REINSTATAEMENT
If the employer has terminated a contract of
indefinite duration, the compensation amounts to
remuneration for a period from 2 weeks to 3
months, but no less than remuneration for the
period of notice.
If an open-ended contract has been dissolved without
a period of notice, the compensation amounts to
the remuneration for the period of notice.
In the case of fixed-term contracts, the compensation
amounts to the remuneration for the time through
which the contract was to continue, but no more
than 3 months.
 Additional claims based on civil law
CONCLUSIONS
In the past, the Polish law used to guarantee a
relatively high standard of protection against
dismissal
 Over the last two decades, however, the regulations
have changed.
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At the same time, the approach taken by labour courts has
changed as well.
As a result, the law pertaining to the termination of
the employment relationship has become more and
more liberal.
 Two different standards of protection:
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relatively high in the case of permanent workers and
much lower in the case of fixed-term employees.
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this part of the Polish labour market has dangerously approached the hire
and fire model.