POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Agnieszka Janicka and Krzysztof Hajdamowicz, Clifford Chance
The employer may also terminate the contract without notice without the fault of the employee if the employee remains on sick leave for a cer - tain period (longer than three or nine months, depending on the duration of employment) or where the employee’s justified absence for other reasons lasts longer than one month. There is no obligation to make any additional payments to the employee in the case of termination without notice. Termination by the Employee An employee can terminate an employment con - tract with or without notice. Termination without notice can take place where a doctor diagno - ses a detrimental effect of work on the health of the employee and they are not transferred to another position by the employer, or where the employer severely breaches its basic duties to the employee. In the latter case, the employee is entitled to compensation in the amount of their remuneration for the notice period applicable to their contract or, in the case of a contract for a fixed term, for the remainder of the term of the contract, but for no more than the notice period. Termination by Mutual Agreement of the Parties The terms of termination agreements are agreed by the parties, and it is common for the employer to make an additional severance payment to the employee, although this is not a legal require - ment. Collective Redundancies If an employer with at least 20 employees ter - minates employment contracts for reasons not attributable to the employees, it is referred to as “collective redundancy” if the redundancies are made during 30 consecutive days and the termination involves:
• ten or more employees, where the employer has fewer than 100 employees; • 10% or more of the employees, where the employer has at least 100 employees but fewer than 300 employees; or • at least 30 employees, where the employer employs 300 employees or more. The employer is obliged to consult the trade unions (if present) regarding the intention to carry out collective redundancies, and must also notify the trade unions of the reasons for the planned redundancies, the number of employ - ees to be made redundant and the period during which the redundancies will take place, among other things. This information must be submitted to the relevant labour office. If there are no trade unions at the employer’s establishment, the rel - evant rights are exercised by elected employees’ representatives. Within 20 days of the date of notification, the employer must conclude an agreement with the trade unions regulating the collective redundan - cy process. If an agreement cannot be reached, the employer unilaterally regulates the process in the relevant by-laws. If there are no trade unions at the employer’s establishment, the employer issues the by-laws after consulting the employ - ees’ representatives. The relevant labour office must be notified of the agreement concluded or the by-laws issued. Employees whose contracts are terminated in a collective redundancy procedure are entitled to additional statutory severance pay of one, two or three months’ remuneration, depending on the duration of their employment (respectively: less than two years, from two to eight years, or longer than eight years).
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