On May 23, 2024, the Parliament passed the long-awaited Law on the Protection of Whistleblowers. One of the most significant changes from the draft presented by the Government is the possibility of introducing a common procedure for receiving complaint for a group of companies, provided that the activities performed comply with the law. The bill has now been referred to the Senate, and will then await the President’s signature. Most of its provisions will come into force within 3 months of the act’s publication in the Official Journal of Law (within 6 months with regard to external reporting), which may mean that employers will be required to implement the new regulations during the holiday season or early autumn.
The government’s legislative work list included the assumptions of a project to amend the Labour Code. This confirms the Ministry’s earlier announcements regarding the extension of the current regulations so that periods of employment, on which certain employee entitlements depend, would include periods of sole proprietorship, non-agricultural sole proprietorship and periods of commission or provision of services by individuals under civil law contracts – provided that they formed the basis for social insurance. The changes would take effect from 2026.
The inclusion of the aforementioned periods in seniority will result in, among other things, entitlement to higher vacation leave, a longer notice period or higher severance pay. Work on the amendment is scheduled for the third quarter of 2024.
Tens of thousands of foreigners, after obtaining a student visa entered Polish under the pretext of starting studies, although as it turns out now, they did not undertake any education. In the nearest future, 3 universities (private ones) will be checked, which were mentioned during the testimony by the Polish vice-consul in India, at the commission of inquiry into the visa scandal.
The Ministry of the Interior and Administration has also confirmed the establishment of an interministerial working group to eliminate irregularities in the visa system.
The draft regulation of the Minister of the Interior and Administration amending the regulation on citizenships the possession of which entitles to apply for the issuance of a Polish travel document for a foreigner under the conditions specified in the Act on foreigners means that Belarusian citizens legally residing in Poland can obtain a travel document for a foreigner free of charge.
The document is issued for a period of 1 year for a foreigner who has lost theirs travel document or whose travel document was destroyed or expired, and it is not possible for the foreigner to receive a new travel document. This applies to holders of a permanent residence permit, a long-term EU resident’s residence permit, a temporary residence permit – temporary residence granted in connection with the possession of a visa issued for humanitarian reasons, subsidiary protection or a residence permit for humanitarian reasons.
The draft law on amendments to the Act on Foreigners, returned after consultations at the beginning of May, which caused considerable confusion. Why? One of the main assumptions of the change was the long-awaited, although skeptically commented on possibility of submitting an application for residence through the (MOS) Case Management Module, i.e. electronically, because this is not a priority of changes, and will take place, but at a later date. The issuance of a certificate of submission of an application, which was supposed to replace the well-known stamp imprint in a foreigner’s passport, also disappears from the primary assumptions.
The proposed law is to enter into force 3 months after the date of publication. Such a date of entry into force is necessary to provide public administration with time to properly prepare for the implementation of obligations resulting from the introduced legal solutions.
The government’s draft amendment to the so-called Ukrainian Special Act has been referred to President of Republic of Poland. It is assumed that the new solutions will come into force from 1 July 2024, among other things, the extension until 30 September 2025 of legal residence for Ukrainian citizens and their family members, or the introduction of compulsory schooling for children of Ukrainian citizens.
At the same time, from next year, it will be possible to change the status of residence from the current temporary protection to a temporary residence permit for a period of 3️ years. The purpose of the amendment is also to adapt the rights of persons under temporary protection to the current challenges related to their stay in Poland, and thus also to eliminate the identified abuses.
Thank You
Your message has been sent.
Contact our experts