PRO HR Year Book 2024 | Annual summary of the most important topics in HR law
2021.12.21
In our new publication, we discuss current and practical issues in the area of labour law, occupational health and safety, data protection, compliance, immigration & global mobility, litigation, digitalisation of HR and remuneration in the financial sector.
The obligation to counteract workplace bullying rests with the employer and arises from the fundamental requirement to respect the employee’s dignity. This is one of the key obligations of each employer in Poland.
Mediation is one of the methods of resolving disputes which is gaining importance in the Polish legal system. Regulated by the Civil Procedure Code, mediation aims to enable parties to reach agreement in a less formal, faster, and more flexible way than a standard court procedure. Mediation may be used in both civil cases, including labour law cases, and in business cases.
As the last member state of the European Union, Poland has implemented the EU Directive on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union law. The Whistleblower Protection Act which was adopted on 14 June 2024 introduced a protection regime for persons who report breaches in several areas of law. It also put an obligation on employers with at least 50 employees to implement procedures to make internal reports. All provisions of the Act have come into effect and must be complied with.
The European Union member states, including Poland, have time until 7 June 2026 to implement the Directive on Pay Transparency (“the Directive”). The Directive imposes an obligation to apply mechanisms of transparency of pay and tools for its enforcement in order to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women.
Data can be stored for the period of three years after the completed recruitment. This was confirmed in February 2024 by the Supreme Administrative Court. The President of the Personal Data Protection Office has disagreed with this assessment and in one of administrative decisions he stated that personal data should be deleted immediately after the completed recruitment and then filed a last resort appeal against the judgement favourable for the data controller.
In the recent years Polish employers (in particular larger ones) have begun to notice the significance of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). This was clear in 2024 and it is predicted that this trend will continue in the next few years.
Employee incentive schemes based on shares are an effective tool to attract and retain talents. They also motivate employees to long-term involvement in the development of the company. Companies, in particular international ones, are keen to implement them and include employees of their branches in Poland.
Harmful effect of reprotoxic substances on sexual function and fertility in adult males and females, as well as on the development of their offspring resulted in adopting in 9 March 2022 the Directive (EU) 2022/431 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending the Directive 2004/37/EC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work. More than two years later, on 29 June 2024, the regulations of the Directive 2022/431 were implemented in the Polish law.
On 28 April 2021 the amendment of the Banking Law and some other laws to implement the Capital Requirements Directive V and the Capital Requirements Regulation II in the Polish legal order took effect.
