Inspections associated with funding for salaries

Voivodship Labour Offices have announced inspections of employers who have taken advantage of financial support to cover employee salaries. 

Shield 4.0 has facilitated the process of application of funding – businesses do not have to document a decline of turnover and attach agreements with employees. According to the Labour Offices this can lead to abuse. 

However Shield 4.0 provides for special procedures allowing for inspections in companies that have taken advantage of the subsidies. Civil servants announce that they will verify the decline of turnover, the allocation of the funds and the lists of employees for whom the companies received support. 

As of now, it is hard to determine how exactly the inspections will be carried out when they will start. One should bear in mind the consequences of breaches, if any – refund of all received funding, including interest, and even criminal liability.

More in an article by advocate trainee Magdalena Poręba “Inspections associated with funding for salaries” for the Labour Law Quarterly (1 October 2020).

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Holiday leaves in practice

Some issues and problems associated with granting holiday leaves remain relevant regardless of the season, especially because at the times of pandemic shield legislation has introduced new regulations in this respect. 

Holiday leave for a part-time employee and change of the FTE during the calendar year 

Determining the holiday leave allowance for part-time employees, employers are obligated to apply not only the general regulations pertaining to years in service but also two additional principles. In accordance with the first one, employees become entitled to a holiday leave pro rata to their contracted daily work time. According to the second principle, a fractional day of holiday leave is rounded up to a full day. 

To calculate the holiday leave allowance for employees whose contracted daily work time has been reduced, the proportionality principle should be applied. The holiday leave allowance should be calculated separately for individual parts of the year and then the results should be added up. 

Holiday leave during the notice period and in the case of entering into an agreement on termination of employment

During an employment contract termination notice period the employer may grant the employee unilaterally a holiday leave (both current and overdue) and the employee is obligated to use such leave. 

There is no parallel regulation in the case of entering into an agreement on termination of employment with the employee with a deferred employment relationship end date. The parties may regulate this issue in the agreement.

Setting the dates of the holiday leave without the employee’s consent 

Apart from the possibility of making a unilateral decision on sending the employee on leave during the notice period, the employer may take advantage of this right also with regard to overdue holiday leave. Regulations in this respect are also introduced by the shield legislation, limiting the employer’s right to grant up to 30 days of outstanding holiday leave. 

More in the article by attorney-at-law Marta Kosakowska-Tomczyk and advocate Natalia Łokińska “Holiday leaves in practice” for the Labour Law Quarterly (1 October 2020). 

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Eliminating paper in employment

The situation brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic has made employers aware that digitization of HR processes is indispensible for proper management of dispersed employee teams.

Limitation or even lack of possibility of holding meetings in person or free access to the office have contributed to popularization of tools allowing for execution of HR and payroll processes remotely. This pertains in particular to the increasing popularity of the electronic signature, which is not longer reserved only for management board members bit is used also by HR staff.

However, electronic signature is not the only tool that can be used in the work environment. The regulations prevailing since 2019 allow for keeping employee documentation in electronic form rather than in hardcopy, although so far the e-file has not been very popular.

More in the article by attorney-at-law Katarzyna Sarek-Sadurska and advocate Anna Boguska “Eliminating paper in employment” for the Labour Law Quarterly (1 October 2020).