12 Key Changes to the Labor Code

How has the labor code changed in recent years?

An amendment to the Labor Code was adopted in 2023. It was at this point that two important EU directives were implemented. We are talking about the following documents:

EP and Council Directive (EU) 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and caregivers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU – abbreviated as work-life balance directive,
EP and Council Directive (EU) 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union.

Let’s start with the fact that the directives under discussion here are nothing new – these documents were adopted by the European Parliament in 2019, and member states have committed to implementing the provisions envisioned in the directives by August 2022. The deadline was not met by the Polish government, but the changes were finally passed. February 8, 2023. The Sejm rejected amendments proposed by the Senate and passed an amendment to the Labor Code constructed on the basis of two EU directives.

Work-life balance directive – the most important assumptions

One of the goals of the work-life balance directive adopted in 2019 was to modify parental leave in such a way as to allow greater participation of fathers in raising children. According to analysts, fathers have repeatedly expressed a desire to take parental leave. The possibility of taking advantage of such a solution not only for the two weeks currently envisaged in Polish law, but for much longer, may result not only in better father-child relations, but also in a more stable position for women in the labor market.

What changes have been made to the Labor Code by the amendment?

Parental leave

A colossal change brought about by the work-life balance directive was the introduction of a 4-month parental leave, which any parent can take until the child turns 6. year of age. Moreover, the nine weeks of parental leave is the portion that is not transferable to the other parent. This is precisely one of the measures aimed at encouraging fathers to take parental leave – under the previous legislation, it was still women who overwhelmingly opted for parental leave.

This, however, is slowly changing. As early as 2023 As many as 19,000 men took advantage of the new type of leave . A year earlier, when parental leave was shared between fathers and mothers, about 4,000 men took advantage of it. You can find these and other data on how to take advantage of the new parental leave rules in the report “Dads on Parental Leave” (Social Security and Share the Care),

Return of women to the labor market

Another premise of the directive was to make it easier for women to return to the labor market – the possibility of leaving the child with the other parent for an additional few months was supposed to speed up the process and have a positive effect on maintaining a common-sense work-life balance, especially during the first period of parenthood.

Paternity leave

The discussed EU directive on paternity leave coincides almost 100 percent with the current law in Poland. Fathers can take two weeks of paternity leave (specifically, 10 working days). You can choose to take a vacation in its entirety or in two periods of 7 days each. The introduction of the provisions of the European directive has meant that fathers must use their paternity leave within 12 months of the child’s birth, rather than within two years as before.

These are not all of the provisions for which there was room in the so-called “Theory of the World”. work-life balance directives – we will return to the others later in the article.

Directive on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union

Directive 2019/1152 is the next step in the introduction of the European Pillar of Social Rights (read more about it here).

This document applies to persons working under an employment contract or in an employment relationship with an employer (in accordance with applicable national law or accepted practice). An additional criterion is the working time – for an employee to be covered by the directive on the transparent and predictable working conditions in the EU, it must be more than three hours a week (more than 12 hours a month).

The directive can also be applied to male and female employees working on the basis of the so-called “Directive”. zero-hour contracts – however, they must meet the above conditions to be able to determine employee status.

The premise of the directive was to establish minimum labor rights common to the entire European Union. What did the EU document actually introduce?

Basic elements of the employment relationship

The basis of a healthy relationship between employer and employee should be transparent communication, which is why Directive No. 2019/1152 requires employers to inform new employees in writing about the basic elements of the employment relationship. These include:

The identity of the parties to the employment relationship, the place of work and its nature,
The date on which the employment relationship began and the date on which it ended (in the case of fixed-term contracts),
The start and end date of the trial period (if applicable),
The amount of basic pay, overtime pay, the method of payment of wages and the frequency of payments,
The length of the working day and week for a predictable working time system,
The hours and days of work on which the employee may be required to work on an unpredictable basis, the minimum period of notice before the start of work, the number of guaranteed working hours for which the employee will be paid.

All of the above information must be provided by the employer to the employee in writing no later than 7 days after the first day of work.

Supplementary information

The set of data that the employer should provide to the employee does not end there. Here is the supplementary information – the employer has one month to provide it, counting from the first day of work:

number of days of paid vacation,
training law and conditions,
Provisions in collective agreements governing an employee’s working conditions,
the name of the social security institution to which social security contributions are paid, provided that the payment of such contributions is the responsibility of the employer,
The length of the notice period and the conditions for its determination in the event of termination of employment,
information on utility companies (using temporary workers) – this applies only to temporary workers and is only applicable if these entities are known.

Minimum requirements of an employment contract

The Directive on Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions also contains provisions governing the minimum requirements of an employment contract. These include:

The right to a probationary period – this period may not exceed six months except for two exceptions: when an extension is in the interest of the employee or when justified by the nature of the work,
The right to take up employment with another employer – this right applies if the work for another entity takes place outside of established working hours and if there are no other restrictions on combining positions,
The right to refuse to perform work outside of the hours and days of reckoning established in the labor contract,
The right to request a form of employment characterized by predictable or safer working conditions – this right is granted to employees who have provided services to the same employer for at least six months.
The right to benefit from free training – this right applies when the employer is obliged to provide such training to employees.

Other findings of the directive

The described directive also affects a number of other regulations – among them:

ogranicza stosowanie umów o pracę na żądanie,
ustanawia wzruszalne domniemanie istnienia stosunku pracy w oparciu o liczbę przepracowanych godzin,
provides for the possibility of filing a complaint or applying a favorable legal presumption if an employee fails to receive the above. information within the applicable period (7 days or one month from the date of commencement of work, depending on the type of information).

It is also worth remembering that the latest document repeals the Council Directive on Informing Workers about Working Conditions (91/533/EEC) as of its entry into force.

Wszystkie omówione wyżej zmiany w kodeksie pracy weszły w życie w 2023 roku.

New changes in the Labor Code – when will they be implemented?

Regulations governing parental leave and probationary contracts take effect on January 1, 2023;
Solutions for sobriety checks at workplaces went into effect on February 21, 2023;
Regulations covering remote work took effect on April 7, 2023. Learn more about controlling remote work.

Changes to the Labor Code – a list of the 12 most important changes

We present a list of changes to the Labor Code that have come into effect in recent years.

1. additional care leave

Additional unpaid caregiving leave available to employees who need to care for a child or other family member (such as a parent, husband or wife). The leave is granted at the request of the employee and can last up to five days per year.

2. additional leave due to “force majeure”

The directive introduced two working days or 16 hours of leave due to force majeure (emergency, illness or other significant event). This leave is paid at 50% of basic salary.

3. longer parental leave

Parental leave has been extended by 9 weeks (from 32 weeks in the case of a single child birth and 34 weeks in the case of multiple births to 41 and 43 weeks, respectively). This leave can be taken in up to five parts until the end of the year in which the child turns 6. year of life. Each parent who is also an employee is entitled to an exclusive right to 9 weeks of parental leave (out of the aforementioned 41 or 43 weeks). This means that the 9 weeks cannot be used by the other parent.

4 Maternity benefit – change in amount

EU regulations have introduced a 70% maternity benefit for the entire period of parental leave. A mother taking parental leave can receive 100% of the benefit for the first 6 months and 60% for the rest of the period, or she can file an appropriate application up to 21 days after the birth, so she will receive a maternity benefit for the entire period of leave (maternity and parental) of 81.5%. The benefit for the father, taking the 9-week portion of the leave, is also 70% of the benefit base.

5. Urlop ojcowski dostępny krócej

Fathers can take the two-week leave not for 24 months from the month of the child’s birth, but only for 12 months.

6. flexible working hours for parents of children under eight years of age

The new regulations guarantee employees raising children under eight years of age flexible working hours (or justification in writing if they refuse to do so), as well as the inability to order night work, send on business trips or schedule overtime without the employee’s consent.

7. remote work

A definition of remote work, as well as the associated obligations and privileges, has appeared in the Labor Code. The employer is obliged to cover the cost of electricity and Internet charges according to the time the employee uses these services (during working hours).

8. changes to probationary contracts

Trial period contracts can be concluded for a period not exceeding 1 month (if the intention is to employ for a fixed-term contract – less than 6 months) or 2 months (if the intention is to employ for a fixed-term contract – for at least 6 months and no more than 12 months). Probationary contracts may be extended for a period not exceeding 1 month.

9. additional work stoppages

The updated Labor Code has found room for additional breaks. An employee is entitled to a break of at least 15 minutes if his working time during the day is not less than 6 hours. If the working time during the day exceeds 9 hours, the employee gains the right to a second break – also lasting 15 minutes. A third break is granted to employees who work 16 hours or more in a day.

10 Rules for training

If the employer is required to organize training for employees, it must meet two additional conditions. First: these trainings should be held at the employer’s expense. Second: the training should take place during the employee’s working hours. If it is not possible to meet the second condition, the time of the training, which takes place after working hours, should be included in working time.

11. termination of a fixed-term contract

If an employer intends to terminate an employee’s fixed-term employment contract, he is obliged to indicate the reason justifying the termination. If the termination proves to be unjustified, the labor court may declare the termination ineffective. The result may be the reinstatement of the employee to his former position (and related terms and conditions) or compensation.

12. protection from dismissal

As the law currently stands, an employer cannot justify the termination of an employment contract or terminate the contract without notice if the justification would be one of the following circumstances:

The employee claimed to exercise his right to reimbursement of training costs and/or to have the time of the training, which took place outside working hours, included in working time.
the employee has requested a change in the terms and conditions of employment, to something more predictable and/or secure,
The employee has requested a change in the type of employment contract to a contract of indefinite duration,
the employee was in a simultaneous employment relationship with another employer or was in a legal relationship that was the basis for the provision of work other than an employment relationship (unless he acted in this way in contravention of separate regulations),
The employee sought the provision of information about the conditions of employment or a change in them,

What’s next for the labor code? What changes in 2026?

In 2026, the Labor Code will change again – this time the issue of seniority, announced months ago, will change. Under the current regulations, which will be in place until the end of 2025, seniority only includes periods of employment of an employee under a contract of employment.

This will change in 2026. The Parliament has already passed a bill to amend the Labor Code and some other laws.

Important!

Currently – as of 17/10/2025. – the bill under discussion is being debated in the Senate. If it is adopted by the Upper House of Parliament and then signed by the President, the legislation will go into effect on January 1, 2026. However, it is possible that work on the amendment will be prolonged. We will report on the changes in this blog post.

Provisions in the new draft stipulate that seniority will be expanded and will also include periods of employment in forms other than a contract of employment. Seniority will also include:

periods of service under civil law contracts,
periods of self-employment, i.e. the conduct of non-agricultural economic activity by an individual. Thus, this group will include entrepreneurs, creators, artists, persons operating in the so-called “freelance” profession, partners in sole proprietorships of limited liability companies, general, limited partnerships and partnerships, shareholders of simple joint-stock companies, as well as persons running public or non-public schools or preschool education institutions.
periods in which a person cooperated with an individual engaged in one of the above-mentioned activities, provided that contributions to pension, disability and/or accident insurance were paid,
periods of performance of agency contracts by an individual (also applies to associates),
periods of being a member of an agricultural production cooperative or a cooperative of agricultural wheels.

What’s more, also the period of suspension of the business activity, carried out by the entrepreneur or a cooperating person, will count as seniority – under two conditions:

The reason for the suspension was the personal care of the child,
pension contributions were paid for the period of suspension.