We are talking about:

• Directive (EU) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union
• Directive (EU) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers (the so-called Parental Directive).

The latter establishes minimum requirements aimed at achieving equality between men and women in terms of labour market opportunities and treatment at work. The legislation is to make it easier for parents to combine work and family life.

The so-called Parental Directive implemented into the Polish legal system provides for individual rights related to paternity, parental and carer’s leave, as well as flexible working arrangements for employees being parents and carers. The legislation encourages equal sharing of care responsibilities between women and men – says the Minister of Family and Social Policy, Marlena Maląg.

Parental Directive. The most important amendments

The most important amendments in the field of parental leave are, inter alia:

• introduction of an individual right to parental leave for female and male employees;
• increasing the total length of this leave for both parents to 41 weeks (in the case of giving birth to one child) or to 43 weeks (in the case of multiple birth);
• increasing the total length of leave for both parents of seriously ill children (the „For Life” programme) by additional 24 weeks, i.e. up to 65 weeks (in the case of giving birth to one child) or up to 67 weeks (in the case of giving birth to twins),
• making the right to parental leave independent from the fact that a mother of a child is employed (insured) or not on the day of delivery (i.e. a father of a child will be able to take parental leave despite the fact that a mother of a child was not in an employment relationship/covered by sickness insurance on the day of delivery),
• introduction, under parental leave, of a non-transferable part of this leave for each parent of up to 9 weeks (this means that each parent can take a maximum of 32/34 weeks of this leave and in the case of parents of seriously ill children – 56/58 weeks),
• determining the amount of a maternity allowance for the whole period of parental leave at the level of 70% of the basis for calculating the allowance.

A novelty in the legislation is the possibility of taking unpaid carer’s leave. Such leave is granted in the length of 5 days in a calendar year and can be used to provide care to the closest family members requiring support for serious medical reasons – says the Minister of Family and Social Policy, Marlena Maląg.

The amendment also introduces;

• possibility of taking time off work due to force majeure – amounting to 2 days or 16 hours in a calendar year – in urgent family matters caused by an illness or accident, if the immediate presence of an employee is required, while retaining the right to half of the remuneration (calculated as the remuneration for holiday leave) for the duration of this time off;
• enabling a wider use of flexible working arrangements through, inter alia, remote working, flexible working schedules (flexitime, individual working schedule, weekend working time, shortened workweek system and intermittent working time) as well as part-time work.

The possibility of making greater use of flexible working arrangements will be granted to parents taking care pf a child under the age of 8 and carers, i.e. employees providing care or support to a relative or a person living with an employee in the same household who require care or support for serious medical reasons.

The second EU directive that we implemented into the Polish legal system is the directive on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union. Its objective is to improve working conditions by ensuring more transparent and predictable employment. One of the most important amendments is the extension of the scope of information about the conditions of employment of an employee to include additional elements such as, e.g., information about training provided by an employer or about the length of paid leave granted to an employee – says Minister Marlena Maląg.

Directive on transparent and predictable working conditions in the EU – the most important changes

The most important changes are, inter alia:

• ensuring an employee’s right to parallel employment – introducing a ban on prohibiting an employee from simultaneously remaining in an employment relationship with another employer.
• granting an employee the right to free training necessary to perform a specific type of work or in a specific position if the right to such training results from the provisions of a collective labour agreement or other collective agreement or from the regulations or provisions of labour law or from an employment contract, or this training will be conducted upon request of an employer;
• providing an employee who has been working for at least 6 months with the right to apply to an employer (once per calendar year) for changing the type of an employment contract to an employment contract for an indefinite period of time or for more predictable and safe working conditions and to receive a written reply to this request along with justification within 1 month of receiving the request;

On the other hand, with regard to a probationary employment contract, the new legislation assumes, inter alia, ensuring that a probation period will be commensurate with the expected duration of a fixed-term employment contract and with the type of work. It will be possible to conclude a probationary employment contract for a period not exceeding:

• 1 month – in the case of an intention to conclude a fixed-term employment contract for a period of less than 6 months;
• 2 months – in the case of an intention to conclude a fixed-term employment contract for a period of at least 6 months and less than 12 months.

A probationary employment contract with the same employee may be renewed only if an employee is employed for the purpose of performing a different type of work.

Transitional period

The right to increased leave will be granted not only to employees who on the day of entry into force of the Act are entitled to parental leave. In order to cover the largest possible number of employees with the new regulations regarding reconciling professional life and childcare, the Act grants the right to:

• added 9-week non-transferable part of leave for all employees, and
• additional 24 weeks of parental leave for employees – parents of children covered by the „For Life” Programme,

to employees who from 2 August to the date of entry into force of the new regulations made use of parental leave or had the right to such leave.