Collective bargaining agreements

Collective bargaining agreements are a type of social arrangements concluded by bargaining between the employer(s) and the employees, represented by trade unions.

What are collective bargaining agreements?

In collective bargaining agreements, employees represented by trade unions and the employer(s), for example, may establish working conditions that differ from the provisions outlined in the Labour Code. As a result of that arrangement, the method of remuneration and bonus for workers may be better adapted to the specific characteristics of the enterprise’s activity. However, the provisions laid out in the agreement must not be less favourable to employees than those established in the Labour Code and other relevant legislation and implementing regulations. Provisions of the collective bargaining agreement that contravene the principle of equal treatment in employment are null and void by operation of law.

additional information on collective bargaining agreements

Pursuant to Article 239 of the Labour Code, a collective bargaining agreement may be concluded:

for all employees employed by the employer(s)
for certain groups of workers
and may include persons providing work on a legal basis other than the employment relationship, as well as old-age pensioners and disability pensioners.

The agreement may not be concluded for members of the civil service corps, employees of State offices employed on the basis of a nomination or an appointment, employees of local government authorities employed on the basis of election, nomination or appointment, and judges, judge trainees and prosecutors.

A collective bargaining agreement primarily defines in broad terms the conditions to which the content of the employment relationships of the employees for whom it is concluded should correspond, in other words, it is the ‘basis’ for determining their working and pay conditions (Article 240(1) of the Labour Code).
The agreement may also include mutual obligations of the parties to the agreement (Article 241¹ of the Labour Code), concerning, for example:

the procedure for publishing the agreement and circulation of its contents,
procedures for a periodical evaluation of how the agreement is functioning,
procedures for interpreting the contents of the agreement and for settling disputes between the parties in this regard,
mutual obligations to comply with the agreement.

The parties who are entitled to conclude an agreement may enter into an arrangement on the application of an agreement to which they are not parties. To this end, in accordance with Article 241¹⁰ of the Labour Code, they conclude an arrangement on the application, in whole or in part, of the provisions of the agreement already concluded. Its content can be freely changed by including additional protocols. The relevant provisions of the agreements shall apply mutatis mutandis to such arrangement and additional protocols. They are subject to registration.

Amendments to the agreement to which the arrangement on its application has been concluded shall not alter the content of that arrangement.

Pursuant to Article 241¹⁸ of the Labour Code, the regulation of a given supra-company collective agreement may become mandatory after its extension by the minister responsible for labour, by means of a regulation, if necessary for important social interests. Such an extension may be requested jointly by the employers’ organisation and the supra-company trade union organisations that have concluded the agreement in question. The responsible minister must consult the employer affected by the proposal to extend the agreement, or the employer organisation designated by it, and the trade union organisation at the company (if one exists) before making a decision on the matter.

The legislation allows for the possibility of extending the scope of a supra-company agreement, either in whole or in part, only to employees working for an employer that is not covered by any supra-company agreement and who carries out economic activities that are the same or similar to those of the employers covered by the extended agreement.

What are the types of collective bargaining agreements?

Since 1995, there has been a division in Poland between company and supra-company collective bargaining agreements. The company collective bargaining agreement is concluded at the establishment’s level. The supra-company agreement may encompass any number of different establishments, such as schools, mines, smelters, or other companies. A supra-company collective bargaining agreement establishes uniform working rules that apply to employees working in all the entities covered by the supra-company collective bargaining agreement.

In Poland, there are no legal regulations establishing a separate category of industry agreements. A supra-company collective bargaining agreement may apply to establishments operating in the same area of the economy, e.g. power plants, but the law does not prohibit the conclusion of supra-company agreements for companies in different industries. Supra-company collective bargaining agreements apply only to those companies that have expressed their willingness to conclude such an agreement. By contrast, there is no obligation to conclude supra-company agreements for all companies operating in a certain area of the economy. No company is required to join any supra-company collective bargaining agreement, and this applies to existing companies as well as those newly established or entering the Polish market with their business.

additional information on the types of collective bargaining agreements

There is no hierarchy between a company and supra-company collective bargaining agreements, and the parties to the supra-company collective bargaining agreement do not have a superior position vis-à-vis the parties to the company collective bargaining agreement.

The only restriction on the freedom of the parties to the company collective bargaining agreement stems from the principle of beneficence, according to which the provisions of the company collective bargaining agreement may not be less favourable to the employees than the provisions of the supra-company collective bargaining agreement covering them (Article 241²⁶(1) of the Labour Code).

Consequently, the provisions of the supra-company collective bargaining agreement obliging the parties to the company collective bargaining agreement to:

impose specific regulations
regulate a particular issue in a certain manner or prohibit its regulation, or otherwise interfere with the right of the parties to the company collective bargaining agreement to autonomously shape the content of the company collective bargaining agreement, violate the provision of Article 240(3) of the Labour Code, i.e. the rights of third parties, and are therefore unlawful.

Who can enter into collective bargaining agreements?

Company collective bargaining agreements are concluded by the employer and the company trade union organisation that represents the employees of the establishment in question. Supra-company collective bargaining agreements are concluded by employers’ organisations representing entrepreneurs who wish to be covered by the given agreement and by supra-company trade union organisations acting on behalf of the employees employed in the establishments covered by the supra-company collective bargaining agreement. A supra-company collective bargaining agreement can also be concluded through the activities of the Social Dialogue Council. Agreements are concluded in writing, for a fixed or indefinite period. Before the expiry of an agreement concluded for a fixed period, the parties may extend it for a fixed period or declare the agreement to be concluded for an indefinite period.

additional information on the agreement negotiations

Parties to the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements

The parties to the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements may be:

employers, employers’ organisations
trade union organisations representing workers, within the meaning of trade union organisations for which an agreement has been concluded. This also applies to the trade union associations (federations) to which these trade unions belong, as well as to the national inter-union organisations (confederations) comprising such trade unions or trade union associations (federations).
Supra-company trade union organisations refer to trade union organisations that are a national trade union, an association (federation) of trade unions, or a national inter-union organisation (confederation).

Rules for the conduct of negotiations

According to Article 241³ of the Labour Code, no party entitled to conclude an agreement may refuse to enter into negotiations. Negotiations should be conducted in good faith and with respect for the interests of the parties, primarily including:

The employers’ side should take into account the demands of the trade union organisation if they are justified by the worsening of the material situation of the employees.
Whereas the employees’ side should refrain from demands whose implementation exceeds the employer’s financial capacity.

The employer is obliged to provide information on its economic situation in the area covered by the negotiations to the trade union representatives conducting the negotiations. Information that constitutes a business secret, obtained from the employer, may not be disclosed (Article 241⁴ of the Labour Code).

Restrictions in negotiations

The provisions of the collective bargaining agreement to be concluded cannot be less favourable to employees than the provisions of the Labour Code and the provisions of other laws and executive acts (Article 9(3) of the Labour Code).
The conclusion of an agreement for employees working in local government budgetary units can only take place within the financial resources at their disposal, which must be declared by the founding body of these units in the application for registration of the concluded agreement (Article 240(4) and (5) of the Labour Code).
The provisions of the agreement to be concluded must not infringe on the rights of third parties and must not specify matters regulated in the labour legislation in a mandatory manner (Article 240(2) and (3) of the Labour Code).

Parties entitled to negotiate a supra-company collective bargaining agreement:

On the part of employees (both private and budget sector business units):

A statutorily competent body of a supra-company trade union organisation, defined as a trade union organisation which is a national trade union, an association (federation) of trade unions, or a national inter-union organisation (confederation).

On the part of private sector employers:

The statutorily competent body of the employers’ organisation – on behalf of the employers affiliated to it.

On the part of budget sector employers:

The competent minister or central government administration body – acting on behalf of employers employing employees of state budgetary units not affiliated to employers’ organisations.
The head of the gmina (mayor), the head of the poviat, the head of the voivodship, and the head of the management board of the local government association, respectively – on behalf of employers who employ employees of local government budgetary units not affiliated to employers’ organisations.

Additionally:

The party of employees referred to in Article 23 of the Act on the Social Dialogue Council and other institutions of social dialogue (Journal of Laws of 2015, item 1240, as amended), and
the employers’ side, as referred to in Article 24 of the aforementioned Act,
may conclude supra-company collective bargaining agreements covering all employers affiliated to the organisations referred to in Article 24(1) of the aforementioned Act, or a group of such employers and the employees employed by such employers, as well as arrangements determining the mutual obligations of these parties.

A company collective bargaining agreement is concluded by the employer with the company trade union organisations operating at the employer, in accordance with Article 241²³ of the Labour Code.

When employees are represented by more than one company trade union organisation, negotiations are conducted by their joint representation or by the individual company trade union organisations acting jointly. If, within a period set by the entity proposing the initiative to conclude an agreement, which may not be shorter than 30 days from the date of notification of the initiative, not all trade union organisations join the negotiations, the trade union organisations that have joined the negotiations shall be entitled to conduct the negotiations. It is a condition for the conduct of negotiations that at least one representative company trade union organisation participates. If a company trade union organisation is formed before the agreement is concluded, it has the right to enter into negotiations. The company collective bargaining agreement shall be concluded by all the organisations participating in the negotiations, or at least all the representative company trade union organisations, within the meaning of Article 241^25a of the Labour Code.

The conclusion of a company collective bargaining agreement for employees working for an employer does not preclude these employees from being covered by a supra-company agreement.

Pursuant to Article 241²⁸ of the Labour Code, a company collective bargaining agreement may cover more than one employer if those employers are part of the same legal entity. Negotiations on its conclusion shall be conducted by:

the competent authority of the legal person, and
all company trade union organisations operating at the employers, in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 241²⁸(3)–(6) of the Labour Code.

The conclusion of a supra-company agreement – in accordance with Article 241² of the Labour Code – is preceded by negotiations, during which the parties must take into account the terms presented.The right to take the initiative to conclude an agreement is vested in:

any employers’ organisation entitled to conclude an agreement,
each supra-company trade union organisation representing the employees for whom the agreement is to be concluded,

with the provison that the entity that puts forward such an initiative is obliged to notify any trade union organisation representing the employees for whom the agreement is to be concluded.

When the employees for whom a collective agreement is to be concluded are represented by more than one collective trade union organisation, the negotiations for the conclusion of the agreement shall be conducted by their joint representation or by the individual trade union organisations acting jointly. If not all of the supra-company trade union organisations join these negotiations, the negotiations shall be conducted by the trade union organisations that have joined them, provided that they include at least one representative supra-company trade union organisation.

The agreement shall be concluded by all the trade union organisations that negotiated the agreement or at least all the representative organisations, within the meaning of Article 241¹⁷ of the Labour Code, participating in the negotiations.

Who communicates the content of collective bargaining agreements?

The parties involved in company and supra-company collective bargaining agreements, namely the employers and the trade unions, are responsible for communicating the content of these agreements. The parties to the agreement may decide in it on the methods for publishing and disseminating the content of the agreement.The employer shall notify the employees of the entry into force of the agreement, of amendments to the agreement, and of the termination and dissolution of the agreement; they shall also provide the company trade union organisation with the necessary number of copies of the agreement, as well as make the text of the agreement available for inspection and explain its content to the employees upon request.

Supra-company collective bargaining agreements can be reviewed at the ministry serving the minister responsible for labour, which is the registrar of supra-company agreements – currently the Ministry of Family and Social Policy. However, it should be borne in mind that these documents cannot be copied and that the ability to consult them may be subject to time limitations.

Amendment and termination of the collective bargaining agreement

Amendments to the content of the agreement are made through additional protocols. These are concluded in the same manner as the original collective bargaining agreement, meaning they are subject to the same negotiations and registration rules. If there are changes in the law that render the provisions in the agreement obsolete, the additional protocol should also take into account the amendment made to the national law. Any number of additional protocols may be concluded to a collective bargaining agreement. In a situation where the basic content of the agreement has been amended several times by additional protocols, it may be necessary to organise and standardise the content. The rules do not regulate the drafting of a clear, standard agreement text. Its development depends solely on the will of the parties to the agreement, who also decide how it is to be made available.

If the changes in the content of the agreement are more favourable to the employees, they automatically replace the terms and conditions of the employment contracts under the existing labour legislation. In contrast, less favourable provisions of the agreement can only be introduced by terminating employees’ existing terms and conditions of employment contracts (Article 241¹³ of the Labour Code).

The agreement shall be terminated by mutual declaration of its parties, either at the end of the period for which it was concluded or at the end of the notice period given by one of its parties. The minimum notice period is 3 months (Article 241⁷ of the Labour Code). However, it must be remembered that after the termination of the agreement, the resulting terms and conditions of employment contracts continue to be binding on the employer – until the expiry of their termination period, pursuant to Article 42 of the Labour Code, i.e. by way of amending notices.

Where are collective bargaining agreements registered?

Company collective bargaining agreements are registered by the District Labour Inspectors, while supra-company collective bargaining agreements are registered by the minister responsible for labour. The registration of a company collective bargaining agreement, as well as a supra-company collective bargaining agreement, shall take place upon application by one of the parties that concluded the agreement.

There are currently 174 agreements registered in the register kept since 1995 for supra-company collective bargaining agreements, of which:

64 agreements are in force,
110 agreements have been terminated or dissolved (of which 14 are ‘dead’ agreements*).

402 additional protocols were included for the aforementioned agreements, of which:

214 additional protocols are in force,
188 additional protocols are not in force as a result of the termination or dissolution of the agreement.

* A ‘dead’ agreement is a term referring to a situation where a supra-company collective bargaining agreement cannot be amended or terminated due to the loss of the power of one of its parties to represent the entities applying the agreement.

additional information on the registration of collective bargaining agreements

The specific requirements for submitting an application for registering a collective bargaining agreement or an additional protocol are outlined in the Regulation of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy of 4 April 2001 on the procedure for the registration of collective bargaining agreements, the maintenance of the register of agreements and registration files, and the templates of registration clauses and registration cards.

The application for registering a collective bargaining agreement (or an additional protocol) should include information, among other things, on:

the date and place of conclusion of the agreement and its date of entry into force,
the parties to the agreement and their respective registered offices and addresses for correspondence,
fulfilment by the parties to the agreement of the conditions required for the conclusion of the agreement,
effective date of the agreement,
the scope of the agreement, in particular its territorial and personal scope, and the number of employees covered by it.

The application should also be accompanied by:

stapled or bound copies of the agreement, with a number of copies equal to the number of signatories plus 2 additional copies, all bearing the original signatures of those representing the signatories,
powers of attorney of persons concluding the agreement on behalf of the bodies authorised to do so,
a copy of the court decision establishing the representativeness of the trade union organisation,
a letter from the national inter-union organisation (confederation) confirming the membership of the national trade union or association (federation) of trade unions,
an extract from the register of trade union or employers’ organisations stating that the organisation is registered,
an extract from the statutes of the trade union or employers’ organisation indicating the authority competent to conclude the agreement.

What legislation governs collective bargaining agreements?

The procedures and rules for collective bargaining agreements are contained in:

Labour Code (Journal of Laws 2020, item 1320)
Regulation of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy of 4 April 2001 on the procedure for the registration of collective bargaining agreements, the maintenance of the register of agreements and registration files, and the templates of registration clauses and registration cards (Journal of Laws 2001, No 34, item 408)

In addition, issues relating to bargaining are contained in supplementary provisions:

Article 4 of ILO Convention No 98, ratified by Poland on 14 December 1956:

[...] to encourage and promote the full development and utilisation of machinery for voluntary negotiation between employers or employers’ organisations and workers’ organisations, with a view to the regulation of terms and conditions of employment by means of collective agreements. All standard-setting negotiations in the workplace have the property of voluntariness, which implies, among other things, the prohibition of imposing on employers and trade unions contents that are not the result of their mutual agreement.

Article 6(2) of the European Social Charter drawn up on 18.10.1961, ratified by Poland on 10 June 1997:

obliges the contracting parties, i.e. workers’ and employers’ organisations or their organisations, to take measures to ensure the effective exercise of the right to collective bargaining.

Articles 20 and 59(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland:

the social market economy is based, among other things, on dialogue and cooperation between the social partners, who are guaranteed the right to negotiate, in particular with a view to concluding collective bargaining agreements and other arrangements.

Translated with the support of the European Labour Authority

Translated with the support
of the European Labour Authority