“A business is its people,” Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of Panasonic and one of the twentieth century’s most influential industrialists, liked to say. It sounds like a slogan, but it contains a hard truth: every enterprise is, in the final analysis, a web of relationships between human beings.
And the relationship between employer and employee is the most densely regulated in all of law. Nowhere is this truer than in labour law in Poland.
Regulation as Reality
Ludwig von Mises, the economist and champion of free markets, argued that every state intervention produces consequences its authors did not foresee. Polish labour law is a case in point. Rules designed to protect workers create costs and risks for employers. Attempts to circumvent those rules generate further regulation. Complexity compounds.
The Labour Code (Kodeks pracy), internal regulations, collective agreements, Supreme Court jurisprudence, European Union directives—the entrepreneur navigates terrain whose maps are perpetually being redrawn. And the cost of error is steep: employee claims, labour-inspectorate fines (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy), personal liability for members of management.
Henry Hazlitt, the author of “Economics in One Lesson,” warned against seeing only the immediate effects of an action while ignoring the secondary ones. A poorly drafted employment contract, a defective termination, a failure to consult with a union—the immediate effects may be invisible. The secondary effects will reveal themselves in a Polish labour court.
This is the reality of labour law in Poland: dense regulation where every shortcut becomes a liability.
Employment as Architecture
Alfred Sloan, the legendary head of General Motors, maintained that an organization is the shadow of one man only up to a certain size. Beyond that, it requires structure. In Polish employment law, structure means regulations, procedures, clear rules—not for the sake of bureaucracy, but for the sake of predictability.
Workplace Regulations (Regulamin pracy)
Under labour law in Poland, employers with 50 or more employees must establish workplace regulations. But even smaller employers benefit from clear internal rules.
Workplace regulations define:
- Working hours and schedules
- Rules for presence and absence
- Occupational health and safety requirements
- Disciplinary procedures
These are not formalities demanded by law. They are management tools. They define the rules of the game. They reduce conflicts born of misunderstanding. They provide a basis for enforcing standards.
Compensation Policies (Regulamin wynagradzania)
Similarly, compensation policies establish transparent pay structures, bonus criteria, and benefit rules. Under Polish labour law, employers with 50+ employees who lack a collective bargaining agreement must implement formal compensation regulations.
A company without clear internal regulations is like a team without agreed-upon rules: everyone plays according to his own imagination.
Elliott Jaques, the organizational theorist, spent decades studying hierarchical structures and concluded that people accept authority they perceive as fair. Fairness in the workplace means transparency of rules, consistency in their application, procedures that afford a hearing. Labour law in Poland supplies the framework; filling it with substance is the employer’s task.
Termination Under Polish Labour Law: The Moment of Truth
Jack Welch, for two decades the head of GE, was famous for his ruthlessness in firing the bottom ten percent of performers each year. But he also used to say: “If you’re firing someone, the failure is yours, not theirs. You hired them.”
Termination is the moment when emotion, money, and law converge. The employee loses a source of income and often a piece of identity. The employer risks claims, loss of know-how, destabilization of the team. The way a company parts with people defines its culture more than the way it hires them.
Constraints on Termination
Under labour law in Poland, the freedom to terminate contracts is constrained:
Justification requirement — Indefinite-term contracts (umowa o pracę na czas nieokreślony) require genuine cause for termination. Vague or pretextual reasons will not survive court scrutiny.
Union consultation — If the employee is represented by a trade union, the employer must consult before terminating. The union’s objection does not block termination—but failure to consult can invalidate it.
Protected categories — Pregnant employees, employees on parental leave, employees approaching retirement age, union representatives—Polish labour law grants special protections that limit or prohibit termination.
Notice periods — Depending on length of service: two weeks, one month, or three months. The notice period runs from specific calendar dates, not from the day notice is given.
An effective termination under labour law in Poland requires preparation long before the notice is handed over. Documentation of performance issues, proper consultation, correct calculation of notice periods—each detail matters.
Trade Unions as Players
Samuel Gompers, the founder of the American labor movement, defined the goal of unions in a single word: “More.” More pay, more security, more influence. It is a natural dynamic: an organization representing workers will seek to maximize their benefits.
The Polish Context
Labour law in Poland grants trade unions significant consultation and co-decision rights:
- Consultation before individual terminations
- Negotiation of collective bargaining agreements
- Participation in workplace regulation changes
- Rights to information about employer’s economic situation
For the employer, the relationship with unions is a non-zero-sum game. There are areas of conflict, but also areas of shared interest. Stability of employment, clear rules, predictability—these are values that serve both sides.
Mary Parker Follett, the pioneer of management theory, wrote of “integrative conflict resolution”—the search for options that enlarge the whole rather than divide an existing pie.
But integration requires negotiating skill and knowledge of the legal rules. Consultations mandated by Polish labour law can be a formality or a genuine dialogue. The difference comes down to preparation and strategy.
Executive Contracts: A Category Apart
Peter Drucker observed that a manager is someone responsible for results achieved by other people. That responsibility calls for a different legal relationship than a standard employment contract.
Beyond the Labour Code
Under labour law in Poland, executive relationships can be structured outside the Labour Code—through civil-law management contracts (kontrakty menedżerskie) governed by the Civil Code rather than employment regulations.
The executive agreement—flexible, goal-oriented—is an instrument tailored to this reality. But flexibility cuts both ways:
What the executive gains:
- Higher compensation
- Performance-based bonuses
- Greater autonomy in working methods
- Negotiated termination terms
What the executive loses:
- Protection against termination
- Statutory leave entitlements
- Social insurance on employment terms
- Many rights that accrue to employees under Polish labour law
Drafting an executive contract requires balancing these two worlds—and legal precision so that both parties understand what they are agreeing to. The risk of misclassification (treating an employment relationship as a civil contract) carries significant consequences: back taxes, social insurance contributions, labour court claims.
Restructuring Under Polish Labour Law
Clayton Christensen, the theorist of innovation, described the “innovator’s dilemma”—the situation in which a company must change to survive, yet the change threatens existing structures. Workforce restructuring is often part of such a transformation: new competencies, new positions, sometimes reductions.
Collective Dismissal Procedures
Labour law in Poland imposes specific obligations during restructuring. The Act on Special Rules for Terminating Employment Relationships for Reasons Not Attributable to Employees (ustawa o zwolnieniach grupowych) applies when:
- The employer has 20+ employees, and
- Within 30 days, terminates employment with at least 10 employees (for employers with 20-99 workers), 10% of workforce (100-299 workers), or 30 employees (300+ workers)
Requirements include:
- Notification to the district labour office (powiatowy urząd pracy)
- Consultation with trade unions or employee representatives
- Statutory severance payments (one to three months’ salary depending on tenure)
- Waiting periods before terminations take effect
The Cost of Non-Compliance
A restructuring conducted in compliance with Polish labour law is painful, but it ends. A restructuring conducted in violation of the law drags on for years in the courts—with reinstatement orders, back pay, and reputational damage.
These are not formalities to be circumvented; they are the boundaries within which change must occur.
Labour Law in Poland: What We Do
Since 2006, we have supported employers in employment matters—from drafting contracts and internal regulations, through negotiations with unions, to representation in disputes before Polish labour courts.
Employment Documentation
- Employment contracts (umowy o pracę) for all contract types
- Executive and management contracts
- Workplace regulations and compensation policies
- Confidentiality and non-compete agreements
Ongoing Advisory
- Day-to-day employment law questions
- Termination procedures and documentation
- Working time and leave management
- Occupational health and safety compliance
Union Relations
- Collective bargaining agreement negotiations
- Consultation procedures
- Dispute resolution with employee representatives
Restructuring Support
- Collective dismissal procedures
- Transfer of undertaking (TUPE) compliance
- Workforce reduction planning
Labour Court Representation
- Defense against unfair dismissal claims
- Discrimination and harassment disputes
- Wage and benefit claims
- Appeals to regional and Supreme Court
Labour Law in Poland for Foreign Employers
International companies entering the Polish market encounter specific labour law considerations:
Mandatory Polish-language documentation — Employment contracts and workplace regulations must be in Polish. Bilingual versions are permissible, but the Polish text governs.
Works councils and employee representation — Companies with 50+ employees may face requests to establish works councils (rady pracowników) with information and consultation rights.
Posted workers — Sending employees to Poland triggers compliance with Polish minimum conditions under the Posted Workers Directive.
Remote work regulations — Recent amendments to Polish labour law (2023) introduced detailed rules for remote work (praca zdalna), replacing the pandemic-era home office provisions.
Understanding these requirements before establishing operations prevents costly compliance failures later.
The Philosophy of Employment
We stand on the employer’s side. But we know that the best protection of the employer’s interests is compliance with the law—because the costs of violation always exceed the costs of doing things right.
Labour law in Poland is not an academic abstraction. For the entrepreneur, it is a daily reality in which every decision carries consequences. A poorly drafted contract. A hasty termination. A restructuring conducted without proper procedure. Each creates liabilities that compound over time.
“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become what they are capable of being,” Goethe wrote.
Labour law in Poland defines the framework of that relationship. Our task is to make that framework work for the entrepreneur—protecting the business while respecting the rules that govern how people work together.
Navigating employment matters in Poland? Contact us to discuss your situation—whether you’re drafting contracts, managing a termination, or planning a restructuring.
