POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Agnieszka Janicka and Krzysztof Hajdamowicz, Clifford Chance
4. Employment Law 4.1 Nature of Applicable Regulations
or three months, with the maximum period depending on the type and duration of contract the parties intend to conclude subsequently. It is possible to contrac - tually extend the probationary period by periods of holidays and any other justified absences. The con - tract for a probationary period can, in principle, be concluded only once in relation to a specific position. A fixed-term contract can be concluded for a maxi - mum of 33 months. The duration of subsequent fixed- term contracts concluded with the same employer is calculated in aggregate for that purpose. At the same time, no more than three subsequent fixed-term con - tracts may be concluded; if these limits are exceeded, the contract automatically becomes a contract for an indefinite term. The law provides for certain excep - tions where the limits may be exceeded without the contract becoming a contract for an indefinite term, including the conclusion of a contract for a term of office or a situation where the employer can objec - tively justify exceeding the limit. 4.3 Working Time Employees may work full-time or part-time, and there are no minimum working hours. The standard full-time working hours system provides for eight hours of work a day and 40 hours a week. These limits may be modi - fied based on the system and work time schedule adopted. However, in any case the average weekly working time must not exceed 48 hours, including overtime, in a settlement period. The employer must also ensure minimum periods of uninterrupted rest – ie, a minimum of 11 hours per day and 35 hours once a week. Overtime work is, in principle, permitted for the employer’s justified needs or the need to carry out a rescue action. Overtime should not exceed 150 hours annually, but the employer may modify this limit to up to 416 hours per annum. Employees are entitled to their regular remuneration plus an addition of 50% or 100% of their salary for overtime work, depending on the moment when over - time work takes place: the higher addition applies if overtime work is performed at night, on a Sunday or a holiday, or on a day off granted to the employee for work on a Sunday or holiday, and also for every
Employment regulations are contained in a number of legal sources, including statutes of law, collective bargaining agreements and other collective arrange - ments based on statutes and regulations issued by the employer. Statutory employment laws are of a semi- imperative nature, which means that other provisions regulating terms of employment – such as collective bargaining agreements, other collective arrangements and internal regulations – may modify statutory provi - sions, but only for the benefit of employees. Modifica - tions to the employees’ detriment will be ineffective. The same applies to individual employment contracts. 4.2 Characteristics of Employment Contracts An employment contract should be signed in wet ink or with a qualified electronic signature (QES), although failure to satisfy this requirement does not result in the invalidity of the contract – an employment contract is also valid and enforceable when concluded orally or even per facta concludentia. However, where the contract has not been signed in wet ink or with a QES, the employer is obliged to confirm to the employee the arrangements regarding the parties to the contract, the type of contract and the conditions of the contract in writing prior to admitting the employee to work. Any change to the terms of employment should also be made in writing. A unilateral change that is detri - mental to the employee requires notice of change to conditions of work and pay (in writing or signed with a QES). If the proposed new conditions are rejected by the employee, this results in the termination of the employment contract. Polish law provides for three types of employment contracts, based on whether the contract is conclud - ed for: • a probationary period; • a fixed term; or • an indefinite term. The purpose of a probationary period contract is to verify an employee’s suitability for the given position. It may be concluded for a maximum period of one, two
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