The Act of 16 September 2011 on Special Arrangements Related to Flood Recovery Efforts confers special rights on certain groups of employees in connection with a flood. These groups are defined in regulations issued pursuant to Article 1(2) of the Act.

If a specific right is granted to an affected employee, it should be taken into account that “an affected person” is a person who, as a result of a flood, has suffered property damage or lost, even temporarily, the possibility to use the property or premises they possess.

In addition, special arrangements related to flood recovery efforts apply only within the area specified in the Regulation of the Council of Ministers issued each time in the case of a flood (hereinafter: “flood-affected area”) and for the period indicated in the Regulation.

In the case of the 2024 flood, this is the Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 16 September 2024 on the List of Municipalities Where Special Arrangements Related to Recovery Efforts After the September 2024 Flood Are Applied and the Arrangements Applied on Their Territories.

Special Arrangements include, in particular:

Justification of employee’s absence at work

An employee’s actual inability to work for reasons related to a flood is a ground for excusing their absence from work.

For the duration of this excused absence, the employee is entitled to receive the respective part of the minimum salary for work, but this right applies to a period of no more than 10 working days resulting from the employee’s working time schedule. In justified circumstances, the employer may extend the period for which the remuneration is paid. This is in line with the principle of employee privilege as provided for in labour law.

It should be noted that the minimum salary from 1 July 2024 is PLN 4 300; in 2025, it will be PLN 4 666.

The remuneration is to be paid by the employer.

This arrangement does not apply to employees whose right to the remuneration for excused absence from work due to a flood or right to any other form of compensation for loss of earnings on that account is derived from separate provisions.

In the event of a lack of funds to pay employees the remuneration in question for the period of excused absence from work due to a flood, an employer – who, as a result of the flood, has temporarily ceased or significantly reduced its business activities – may apply to the competent marshal of the voivodeship for an interest-free loan from the Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund.

Entrusting the employee with other work

An employer may entrust an employee with work of a different nature than the work resulting from the established employment relationship if this is necessary in relation to flood recovery efforts of that employer. In such a case, the employee retains the right to their previous remuneration, calculated in accordance with the rules applicable to the calculation of remuneration for the period of annual leave.

Extended “leave on demand”

An employee who resides in the flood-affected area may take eight days of annual leave on the dates specified by the employee, i.e. under the so-called “on-demand leave” procedure. The number of days of “leave on demand” has therefore been increased by four days compared to the number of days provided for in the Labour Code.

This leave is not additional leave that would increase the amount of annual leave available to the employee. It is a part of the annual leave to which the employee is entitled. The purpose of the provision is to increase flexibility in the employee’s use of annual leave during a particularly difficult period of flood or flood recovery.

The leave can be granted during the period specified in the special provisions on flood recovery efforts. During such a period, the leave on demand of eight days replaces the leave on demand of four days which is provided for under the Labour Code.

The employee submits the request for the leave no later than the day on which the leave is to begin.

At the same time, until 31 December 2024, the employer is obliged to grant an additional four days of on-demand leave – for the purpose of flood recovery efforts – also to employees not residing in the flood-affected area, as part of the employee’s annual leave entitlement. The employee submits the request for the leave no later than the day on which the leave is to begin.

The combined total of additional leave on demand for flood recovery efforts (four days), leave on demand granted to an employee residing in a flood-affected area (eight days) and leave on demand under the Labour Code (four days) may not exceed 8 days.

Leave on an hourly basis

Under labour law, annual leave is granted for the whole day which is a working day for an employee. However, in order to increase flexibility in the uptake of annual leave by an employee residing in the flood-affected area, the employee may use part of their annual leave on an hourly basis, i.e. use the leave for a part of the working day. Therefore, the employee is allowed to take a leave of, for example, three hours during an eight-hour working day. The leave granted under this procedure may not exceed the equivalent of five days (40 hours).

Reduction of working time

An employee residing in the flood-affected area can apply for a reduction in working time to no less than half of full-time. The aim is to enable employees to take actions to prevent or combat flood-related risks and take part in flood recovery efforts.

The employee submits the request two days before the date on which the reduced working hours are to begin. If the request is submitted after this deadline, the employer reduces working time no later than two days after the date on which the request was submitted. The employer is obliged to grant the employee’s request unless it is impossible due to the organisation of work or the type of work performed by the employee. The employer informs the employee about the reason for refusal to accept the request, in paper or electronic form, within two working days after the employee submits the request.

Prohibition of overtime and prohibition of posting employees outside their regular place of work

During a flood or flood recovery efforts, the employer must not assign overtime to an employee residing in the flood-affected area and it must not post the employee outside their regular place of work without their consent. This is supposed to enable the employee residing in the flood-affected area to have greater control over their free time. The employee may need to take actions to secure their dwelling or take part in flood recovery efforts.

The employee’s consent may be given in paper or electronic form.

In cases where a rescue operation needs to be carried out in order to protect human life or health, property or the environment, or to resolve a malfunction, such consent is not required. This means that, in these cases, the employee may be ordered to work overtime or be posted outside their regular place of work, even without their consent.

However, if at the same time the property of the employee is at risk or the life or health of the employee or of a person living in the same household as the employee is at risk, the employee must give their consent to work overtime or be posted.

Additional exemption from work for flood recovery efforts

An affected employee may use additional 20 days of paid exemption from work. The exemption can be used by the employee for the purpose of pursuing flood recovery efforts with respect to their own property or the property of a related person or an unrelated person with whom they are in a actual relationship, cohabit and jointly manage household affairs.

This exemption from work is in addition to the right to 10 days of excused absence from work due to actual inability to work for reasons related to a flood.

As a rule, the employer may not refuse to grant the employee the exemption from work unless the employee’s presence at work is necessary due to objectively justified needs of the employer. The employee should submit the request for the exemption on the first day of the exemption at the latest.

In the case of part-time employees, the exemption from work is granted on a pro-rata basis (e.g. half-time employees are entitled to 10 days of leave).

Remuneration for the period of the exemption from work is paid to the affected employee by the employer. However, the employer may request that the cost of this remuneration and social security contributions be reimbursed from the Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund. The reimbursement cannot exceed the average monthly salary in the national economy from the previous quarter as announced by Statistics Poland.

The employer may submit the request for the reimbursement in the competent voivodeship labour offices. The request should be addressed to the marshal of the voivodeship and include a list of employees to whom remuneration was paid for the period of additional exemption from work, as well as the employer’s statement on the actual costs incurred (including the costs of social insurance contributions). In the event of a false declaration, the employer will have to repay the amounts received plus interest.

Medical examinations – Occupational medicine

For employees residing in flood-affected areas, an obligation to undergo periodic medical examinations was suspended, and the validity of such examinations has been extended by 30 days from the end of the period specified in the Regulation of the Council of Ministers .

However, in the case of initial and check-up examinations – during the period specified in the Regulation of the Council of Ministers – an option was introduced to have such examinations conducted by a doctor who is not an occupational health practitioner. These examinations may also be carried out remotely, and a relevant certificate may be issued in electronic form.

Medical certificates issued in the context of initial, periodic and check-up medical examinations that have expired within the period laid down in the Regulation remain valid, but for no longer than 30 days from the end of that period.

Occupational health and safety training

For employees residing in flood-affected areas, the validity of certificates issued after periodic occupational health and safety training was extended by 30 days from the end of the period specified in the Regulation of the Council of Ministers .

In addition, the possibility of providing remote initial occupational health and safety training was introduced. This applies only to employees residing in the flood-affected area and during the period specified in the Regulation of the Council of Ministers.

This option does not apply to workplace instruction training provided to employees employed in manual and hazardous positions, employees transferred to such positions or apprentices and student trainees.

Extension of time limits in labour law proceedings

A flood period constitutes an important, objective impediment to the parties’ access to court, which may lead to unfavourable consequences because of pending time limits set for carrying out certain activities. For this reason, the time limits for employees residing in flood-affected areas are extended where such time limits are of the greatest practical importance, i.e. with respect to time limits for lodging an appeal against dismissal or termination of the contract of employment, and with regard to  statute of limitations for claims arising from the employment relationship.

 

Legal basis:

• Act of 16 September 2011 on Special Arrangements Related to Flood Recovery Efforts (Journal of Laws of 2024, items 654 and 1473);
• Act of 1 October 2024 amending the Act on Special Arrangements Related to Flood Recovery Efforts and Certain Other Acts (Journal of Laws of 2024, item 1473);
• Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 16 September 2024 on the List of Municipalities Where Special Arrangements Related to Recovery Efforts After the September 2024 Flood Are Applied and the Arrangements Applied on Their Territories (Journal of Laws of 2024, item 1371);
• Act of 10 October 2002 on the minimum remuneration for work (Journal of Laws of 2020, item 2207; and Journal of Laws of 2023, item 1667);
• Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 14 September 2023 on the Amount of the Minimum Salary for Work and the Minimum Hourly Rate in 2024 (Journal of Laws of 2023, item 1893);
• Regulation of the Council of Ministers of 12 September 2024 on the Amount of the Minimum Salary for Work and the Minimum Hourly Rate in 2025 (Journal of Laws of 2024, item 1362).