State Labour Inspection

The State Labour Inspection is the state authority established to supervise and control compliance with labour law, in particular the provisions and principles of occupational health and safety, as well as regulations regarding the legality of employment and other paid work.

It operates on the basis and within the scope specified in the Act of April 13, 2007 on State Labour Inspection.

The State Labour Inspection reports to the Sejm of the Republic of Poland. Supervision over the State Labour Inspection, within the scope specified in the Act, is exercised by the Labour Protection Council, appointed by the Speaker of the Sejm. The State Labour Inspection is managed by the Chief Labour Inspector, appointed by the Speaker of the Sejm, with the assistance of his/her deputies.

The organizational structure of the State Labour Inspection consists of: the Chief Labour Inspectorate, 16 district labour inspectorates (each of them covers one voivodeship) along with their subordinate branches and the State Labour Inspection Training Centre in Wrocław.

The following are subject to control by the State Labour Inspection:

• employers,
• entrepreneurs and other organizational units who are not employers - if work is provided for them by natural persons, including self-employed persons, regardless of the basis (a type of contract) for providing this work - with regard to occupational health and safety and control of the legality of employment,
• entrepreneurs or other organizational units for which, as part of the activities conducted by these entities, a contract of mandate is performed or services are provided by the contractor or service provider – with regard to paying such persons remuneration in the amount resulting from the minimum hourly rate.

Labour inspectors are authorized to carry out inspections without notice at any time of the day or night.

Inspection units provide free advice on labour law and health and safety regulations - detailed information about telephone numbers and addresses is available at https://www.pip.gov.pl/kontakt/uzyskaj-porade.

An employee or a contractor (in the field of occupational health and safety and the minimum hourly rate) may apply to the State Labour Inspection for advice or may submit a complaint against the employer or entrepreneur (or other organizational unit).

An employee or a person performing work on a legal basis other than an employment relationship has the right to request the labour inspector not to disclose to the employer (entrepreneur, organizational unit) information about his/her request for an inspection if there is a justified fear that  it could expose that person to any prejudice or recrimination as a result of providing this information. In such a case, the labour inspector may issue a decision to keep secret the circumstances enabling the disclosure of the identity of this employee (person), including personal data. If such a decision is issued, the above circumstances remain exclusively known to the labour inspector.

Conciliation Commission

Before taking the case to court, the employee may request the initiation of a proceedings before a conciliation commission.

The conciliation commission is appointed jointly by the employer and the workplace trade union organisation. If there is no such organisation at a given employer, the committee is appointed by the employer after obtaining a positive opinion from the employees.

Proceedings before the commission may be initiated only at the employee's request. It may lead to a settlement. If no settlement is reached, however, the commission, at the employee's request submitted within 14 days, refers the case immediately to the labour court. Then the employee's request for an amicable settlement of the matter before the commission replaces the lawsuit. Instead of submitting this request, the employee themself may file a lawsuit directly to the labour court.

An employee who believes that the settlement "violates his/her legitimate interest" may also apply to the labour court within 30 days of its conclusion, requesting that it be declared ineffective (in matters relating to the termination, expiration or establishment of an employment relationship, this deadline is shorter and is 14 days).

Labour courts

Employment relationship cases are resolved by labour courts.

The jurisdiction of labour courts does not apply to disputes relating to:

• establishing new conditions of work and remuneration,
• application of labour standards.

Labour courts of first instance are established as divisions of district courts (sąd rejonowy), under the names: labour division or labour and social security division.

The jurisdiction of district courts, regardless of the value of the subject matter of the dispute, includes matters related to labour law:

• for establishing the existence of an employment relationship,
• for recognition of the ineffectiveness of the termination of the employment relationship,
• for reinstatement and restoration of previous conditions of work and remuneration, as well as claims pursued in connection therewith,
• for compensation in the event of termination of the employment relationship if it is unjustified or otherwise violates the provisions of the law,
• matters regarding disciplinary penalties and employment certificates as well as related claims.

Labour courts of the second instance exist as divisions of regional courts (sąd okręgowy) (in some courts there are separate divisions for labour and for social security cases) under the names: labour division, social insurance division or labour and social security division.

Jurisdiction of the court

A lawsuit may be filed:

• to the court of general jurisdiction of the defendant (place of residence or registered office of the employer),
• to the court in whose district the work is, was or was to be performed,
• to the court in whose district the workplace is located.

Deadlines for appealing to the labour court

The deadline for filing a case with the labour court is 21 days:

• from the date of delivery of the notice of termination of the employment contract,
• from the date of delivery of the letter stating termination of the employment contract without notice,
• from the date of expiry of the employment contract,
• in the event of a request to conclude an employment contract - from the date of delivery of the notice of refusal to accept employment.

If the employee has not made the appeal - through no fault of his/her own - within the deadline, the labour court, at his/her request, will decide to restore the missed deadline. This takes place at the employee's request to restore the deadline. It must be submitted to the labour court within 7 days from the date on which the cause of failure to meet the deadline ceases to exist. The application must present the circumstances justifying the reinstatement of the deadline.

Statute of limitations for claims arising from the employment relationship

Claims arising from the employment relationship are subject to a statute of limitations. These include, for example, claims for payment of remuneration for work, retirement severance pay, severance pay in case of collective redundancy, and remuneration for annual leave.

The statute of limitations for a claim means that the benefit covered by it cannot be sought in court (unless the creditor renounce the defense of the statute of limitations).

The limitation of a claim does not result in the extinguishment of the obligation. Therefore, in the event of voluntary performance, the debtor (employer or employee) cannot demand its return under the provisions on undue performance.

The limitation period is 3 years from the date on which the claim became due (e.g. from the agreed date of payment of remuneration).

However, employer’s claims for:

• compensation for damage caused by an employee as a result of non-performance or improper performance of employee duties,
• compensation in the event of unjustified termination of the employee's employment contract without notice,
• compensation for damage caused as a result of the employee's violation of the contractual non-competition clause

are subject to limitation:

• after 1 year from the date on which the employer became aware of the damage caused by the employee,
• no later than 3 years from the date of its occurrence.

A claim confirmed by a final court decision, as well as a claim confirmed by a settlement concluded before the court, is subject to a limitation period of 10 years from the date the judgment becomes final or the settlement is concluded.

Limitation periods cannot be shortened or extended by contract or other actions of the employee and the employer.

The limitation period for a claim for annual leave does not begin, and once it has begun, it is suspended for the duration of the parental leave.

Offenses against employee rights

Certain behaviours of the employer that are contrary to the law are treated as offenses. They are subject to a fine ranging from PLN 1,000 to PLN 30,000.

A fine ranging from PLN 1,500 to PLN 45,000 may be imposed for the following offenses:

• failure to confirm in writing the terms of an employment contract concluded with an employee before allowing him/her to work, when the employee is a person against whom enforcement of alimony benefits is pending and enforcement of state budget receivables arising from benefits paid in the event of ineffectiveness of alimony enforcement and he/she is in arrears with the payment of these benefits a period longer than 3 months;
• paying remuneration higher than that resulting from the concluded employment contract, without making any deductions for the satisfaction of alimony benefits, to an employee who is a person against whom enforcement of alimony benefits is pending and enforcement of state budget receivables arising from benefits paid in the event of ineffectiveness of alimony enforcement and is in arrears with the fulfilment of these benefits for a period longer than 3 months.

Labour inspectors are responsible for prosecuting these offenses.

Labour inspectors are authorized to impose fines up to PLN 2,000. Moreover, if an employer who has been punished at least twice for an offense against employee rights commits such an offense within two years from the date of the last penalty, a fine may be imposed by labour inspector in the amount of up to PLN 5,000.

Courts may impose a fine of up to PLN 1,000 to PLN 30,000 (or up to PLN 45,000).

The employer, a person acting on behalf of the employer or, in certain cases, a person responsible for occupational health and safety may be liable for offenses.

Offenses against employee rights specified in the Labour Code:

• concluding a civil law contract in conditions in which an employment contract should be concluded,

• failure to notify the relevant district labour inspector (okręgowy inspektor pracy), in writing or electronically, within 5 business days from the date of concluding a fixed-term employment contract, without any restrictions on concluding such contracts, due to objective reasons attributable to the employer that justify the conclusion of such a contract,

​• failure to confirm in writing the employment contract concluded with the employee before allowing him/her to work,

• failure to inform the employee about the terms of his/her employment in a timely manner, grossly violating certain provisions of the Labour Code,

• failure to provide a timely response to the application in paper or electronic form or failure to inform the reason for refusing to accept the application of an employee who, having been employed by a given employer for at least 6 months, submitted to the employer once in a calendar year a request, in paper or electronic form, for a change type of employment contract to an indefinite period (a permanent contract) or more predictable and safe working conditions,

• termination an employee's employment relationship by notice or termination without notice, grossly violating the provisions of labour law,

• applying penalties to employees other than those provided for in labour law provisions on employees' organizational liability,

• violation of working time regulations or regulations on employee rights related to parenthood and employment of minors,

• violation the regulations on flexible work organization,

• violation the regulations on carer's leave,

• violation the provisions regarding the consideration of applications for remote work, for intermittent working time system, for work in flexible working hours or on the basis of an individual working time schedule,

• violation of the provisions regarding the employer's coverage of training costs, if the employer's obligation to conduct employee training necessary to perform a specific type of work or work in a specific position results from the provisions of a collective labour agreement or other collective agreement, or from regulations, legal provisions, or an employment contract and in the case of training undertaken by an employee on the basis of a supervisor's order,

• failure to keep documentation on matters related to the employment relationship and employees' personal files,

• failure to store employee documentation for the period specified in the provisions of the Labour Code or for a longer period if it results from separate regulations,

• leaving documentation on matters related to the employment relationship and employees' personal files in conditions threatening damage or destruction,

• failure to pay remuneration for work or other benefits due to the employee or an employee's family member entitled to such benefits within the agreed deadline, making unjustified deductions from remuneration or unjustified reductions in the amount of remuneration or benefits,

• failure to issue an employment certificate to the employee on time,

• paying remuneration higher than that resulting from the concluded employment contract, without making any deductions for the satisfaction of alimony benefits, to an employee who is a person against whom enforcement of alimony benefits is pending and enforcement of state budget receivables arising from benefits paid in the event of ineffectiveness of alimony enforcement and who is in arrears with the provision of alimony benefits for a period longer than 3 months,

• not granting the employee the annual leave he/she is entitled to or unjustifiably reducing the amount of this leave,

• failure to comply with occupational health and safety regulations or principles, being responsible for occupational health and safety or managing employees or other natural persons,

• failure to ensure that the construction or reconstruction of a building or its part in which work rooms are planned is carried out on the basis of designs that take into account occupational health and safety requirements,

• equipping the workplace with machines and other technical devices that do not meet the requirements for conformity assessment,

• providing the employee with personal protective equipment that does not meet the requirements for compliance assessment,

• use of materials and technological processes without prior determination of their degree of harmfulness to employees' health and without taking appropriate preventive measures,

• the use of chemical substances and mixtures that are not marked in a visible and identifiable manner,

• the use of hazardous substances and hazardous chemical preparations that do not have safety data sheets for these substances, as well as packaging that protects against their harmful effects, fire or explosion,

• failure to notify the relevant district labour inspector (okręgowy inspector pracy), prosecutor or other competent authority about a fatal, serious or collective accident at work and about any other work-related accident that caused the above-mentioned effects, if it may be considered an accident at work, failure to report an occupational disease or suspicion of such a disease, failure to disclose an accident at work or an occupational disease, or presenting false information, evidence or documents regarding such accidents and diseases,

• failure to execute an enforceable order of the State Labour Inspection within the prescribed period,

• obstructing the activities of the State Labour Inspection, in particular preventing inspections of the workplace or failing to provide information necessary to perform its tasks,

• allowing a child up to the age of 16 to perform work or other gainful activities without the permission of the competent labour inspector.

Pursuant to the provisions on the minimum wage, it is an offense to pay the person performing contract of mandate or providing services remuneration for each hour of performing the order or providing services in an amount lower than the applicable minimum hourly rate. The entrepreneur or a person acting on behalf of the entrepreneur or another organizational unit is liable for this offense.