In connection with the termination or expiration of the employment relationship, the employer is required to issue to the employee a certificate of employment on the day on which the employment relationship is terminated.

The certificate of employment is a document containing information on completed employment. The employment certificate relates to a period or periods of employment for which no employment certificate has yet been issued.

The issue of the certificate is not dependent on the nature of the contract of employment but on whether the employer intends to continue to employ the employee after the end of the previous contract of employment.

This means that:

• an employment certificate shall be issued by the employer on the date on which the employment relationship is terminated if the employer does not intend to re-employ the employee within 7 days of the termination or expiry of the previous employment relationship,
• if, for objective reasons, it is not possible to issue the certificate of employment to the employee or to a person authorised by them on the date on which the employment relationship ceases, the employer shall, within 7 days of that date, send the certificate of employment to the employee or to that person via a postal operator or deliver it by other means,
• however, in the case of re-employment of the same employee within 7 days from the date of termination of the previous employment, the employer shall issue a certificate of employment to the employee at their request (on paper or in electronic form).  The application may be submitted at any time.

The application for a certificate of employment may concern:

• the previous employment period, or
• all periods of employment for which certificates of employment have not been issued so far.

The employer is obliged to issue an employment certificate to the employee within 7 days from the date of submission of the application.

The employer may not make the issue of that document conditional upon prior settlement by the employee.

If the employee does not agree with the contents of the certificate of employment (for example, they believe that the information contained therein is false), they may request a corrigendum of the certificate. The request is submitted to the employer within 14 days of receipt of the certificate. The corrigendum consists in giving the employee a new certificate of employment within that period.

If the employer does not accept the request for a corrigendum, the employee may apply to the labour court. They have 14 days from the refusal to issue a corrigendum to the document to do so.

An employer shall issue a new certificate of employment to an employee in the following cases:

• if the employee’s request for a corrigendum of the certificate of employment is accepted,
• if the labour court accepts the employee’s action for rectification of the certificate of employment (this is to be done within 7 days from the date on which the court’s decision on the matter becomes final),
• in the event of a final decision by a labour court on the reinstatement of an employee to work or on the award of compensation in connection with the termination of a contract of employment by the employer without notice due to the fault of the employee, in breach of the provisions on the termination of contracts of employment in this manner (this is to be done within 7 days from the date on which a court decision on this matter becomes final). The new employment certificate contains information about the termination of the contract of employment by notice given by the employer,
• if the labour court accepts an employee’s claim for compensation for failure to issue a certificate of employment within the deadline or for issuing an incorrect certificate of employment.

The certificate of employment must include, among other things, the following information:

• the period or periods and type of work carried out, positions held or functions performed,
• the mode and legal basis for the contract termination or legal basis for the expiration of the employment relationship and, in the case of termination by notice, the party to the employment relationship who gave notice,
• the information on the seizure of remuneration in accordance with the provisions on enforcement proceedings,
• the working time of the employee during the employment relationship (part-time or full-time employment),
• the period for which the employee is entitled to compensation in connection with the reduction of the notice period of the contract of employment pursuant to Article 36¹ § 1 of the Labour Code,
• the exemption from work provided for in Article 148¹ § 1 of the Labour Code (exemption from work due to force majeure), used in the calendar year in which the employment relationship ceased,
• the annual leave to which the employee is entitled during the calendar year in which the employment relationship ended and the leave taken during that year,
• the carers’ leave taken during the calendar year in which the employment relationship ended,
• the unpaid leave used and the legal basis for granting it,
• the paternity leave taken,
• the parental leave used and the legal basis for granting it,
• the childcare leave used and the legal basis for granting it,
• the period during which the employee benefited from the protection of the employment relationship referred to in Article 186⁸ § 1(2) of the Labour Code,
• the exemption from work provided for in Article 188 of the Labour Code, used in the calendar year in which the employment relationship ended,
• the number of days of remote work, as provided for in Article 67³³ § 1 of the Labour Code (occasional remote work), carried out in the calendar year in which the employment relationship ended,
• the number of days for which the employee received remuneration, in accordance with Article 92 of the Labour Code, in the calendar year in which the employment relationship ceased,
• the period of active military service or its alternate forms,
• the period of work in special conditions or of special nature,
• the additional leave or other entitlement or benefit provided for by labour regulations that has been used,
• non-contributory periods, falling within the period of employment covered by the certificate of employment, to be taken into account in determining the entitlement to a pension,
• entitlements from the employment relationship recognised and not met by the employer up to the date of termination of the employment relationship due to lack of financial resources.

At the request of the employee, the following information shall also be provided in the work certificate:

• the amount and the components of the remuneration,
• the qualifications obtained.

If the employer fails to issue a certificate of employment to the employee, the latter has the right to apply to the labour court with a request to require the employer to issue a certificate of employment.

In a situation where an employer does not exist or an action concerning issuance of a certificate of employment may not be brought against it for other reasons, the employee has the right to apply to the labour court for establishing the right to receive a certificate of employment.

Such a request may be made at any time before the expiry of the limitation period.

A corrigendum of the certificate of employment may also be requested in this manner.

The employee is entitled to a claim for compensation for the damage caused by:

• the failure to issue the certificate of employment within the deadline; or
• the issue of an incorrect certificate of employment.

Compensation is payable in the amount of remuneration for the period of unemployment for that reason, but no longer than 6 weeks.

Failure to issue a work certificate to an employee within the time limit constitutes an offence against the rights of the employee, punishable by a fine ranging from PLN 1 000 to PLN 30 000.