flash news
On 21 February 2025, Parliament passed a law on the conditions for the admissibility of the assignment of work to foreigners, which introduces significant changes in the procedures for the employment of foreigners. The new regulations abolish the labour market test, which means that the counties themselves will decide in which professions and industries they will limit the possibility of entrusting work to foreigners.
During work on the act setting out the conditions allowing foreigners to work in Poland, the Extraordinary Committee adopted an amendment to the Labour Code.
The draft Act on the conditions of admissibility of entrusting work to foreign citizens in Poland originally envisaged allowing foreign citizens to be employed in Poland exclusively under employment contracts where the basis for employment was to be a work permit or a statement on entrusting work to a foreign citizen. The Government ultimately withdrew this proposal, largely under pressure from the public (including sectoral organisations and employers), which perceived a number of risks in this change, such as limiting the flexibility of the labour market and increasing the so-called grey market.
The Supreme Court has held that an employee's sickness cannot be considered force majeure. Such a decision was made in a case in which the plaintiff sought an award of salary and a number of other work-related benefits. The regional court dismissed the claim, indicating that the defendant had successfully raised the statute of limitations. The plaintiff appealed against the decision, but the appellate court dismissed the appeal after agreeing with the assessment of the court of first instance. In her appeal, the plaintiff alleged a violation of the statute of limitations. She argued that the statute of limitations period had been suspended while she was on sick leave for several months.
The Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy is continuing work on a bill concerning collective agreements and collective bargaining. In addition to the changes we wrote about on our portal, the draft includes amendments to the Labour Code provisions on remote work. According to the bill:
A whistleblower from Armenia submitted a report, through his former employer's designated internal channels, on irregularities committed by one of the company's high-ranking manager. When this manager found out, he sued the whistleblower for defamation and won the case in court (the whistleblower had to pay high damages and apologise).