publications - Labour and employment law

Gender pay equality is a fundamental right embedded in the EU Treaty and in numerous European Directives. Yet, this right is not yet a reality. Women still earn less than men across Europe and are under-represented in decision-making positions. Many European countries have taken initiatives to address this inequality in pay. This booklet covers 20 countries in Europe and sets out figures and trends, the legal framework on gender pay equality, the sanctions for the employer and the means of action for the employee in the event of any violation of the equal pay legislation.

Agnieszka Lisiecka

Easier pursuit of claims for discrimination and mobbing, obligation to retain an employee until the end of court proceedings, minimum wage in 2020, “zero-rate PIT for young people”, varying employees’ remuneration in relation to length of service (Supreme Court judgement), issuance of A1 certificates (Court of Justice judgement and the stance of the Ministry of the Family, Labour and Social Policy)

Labour Code: new rendition of provisions on mobbing, discrimination and work certificates. Personal data under labour law. Status of British citizens in Poland after Brexit. Highest earners’ contributions to Employee Capital Plans. Supreme Court: age and personal connections as discrimination criteria. Court of Justice of the EU: obligation to register time at work for all employees.

Businesses optimising their operations often cease employing some of their staff in favour of outsourcing services. Sometimes, for this purpose, they transfer their employees based on Art. 23¹ of the Labour Code to an outsourcer, most often without transferring any other assets. The main economic motive for such measures is savings on social security and health insurance contributions. However, in the opinion of courts ruling on cases in similar factual circumstances, often at the request of tax or social insurance authorities, this may be only a sham transfer of the workplace, and as a consequence Art. 23¹ of the Labour Code does not apply. What does this mean for the original employer?

Dr Szymon Kubiak, Kamil Jabłoński

An employee in the sales department of a company that sells its own products reported to a management board member a suspicion that the employee’s superior—the head of the sales department—was passing confidential information to a competitor. The employee discovered this when accidentally copied on an email the superior sent to the competitor. The company launched an internal investigation.

Dr Marta Derlacz-Wawrowska, Katarzyna Żukowska

Due to lack of consent by the only trade union established at the workplace, an employer could not amend the workplace pay rules. But some of the staff supported the changes proposed by the employer. A potential solution would be to create another, competing trade union at the workplace. Then, the two unions’ failure to agree on a joint position would allow the employer to introduce the changes unilaterally. But would an employee organisation sympathetic to the employer be regarded as a bone fide union?

Agnieszka Lisiecka, Dr Marcin Wujczyk