The Government has adopted the long-awaited draft law on whistleblowers. Compared to the previous draft of the law, a number of modifications have been made. The Labour Ministry has changed the previous nomenclature used in the law – from “whistleblowers” to “whistleblowers.” In addition, it was proposed to expand the catalog of legal violations to include, among others, the following areas: human and civil liberties and rights, and labour law. It was also indicated that a whistleblower will be protected from the moment of reporting, and the compensation due to him in case of retaliation cannot be lower than the average monthly salary in the national economy in the previous year (around 7,000 PLN). The law’s provisions will take effect 3 months after the date of its promulgation (1 month was previously planned), with the exception of the provisions on external reporting. The bill will now be forwarded to the Sejm for deliberation.
As of March 31, 2024, Romania and Bulgaria have joined the Schengen area in abolishing air and sea border controls. This means that travelers by air or ship will not have to show documents and will be able to freely cross the borders of these countries. The final date in terms of opening land borders is not yet known. The last country to join the Schengen zone on January 1, 2023 was Croatia. In addition to most European Union countries, the Schengen zone also includes Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
The Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy has announced a major change to the Labour Code regarding the inclusion in seniority of employment under civil law contracts and sole proprietorships. It is estimated that the change would affect around 5 million people. The Ministry is considering extending 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. The inclusion of such periods in seniority could result in, among other things, entitlement to higher vacation leave, longer notice periods or higher severance pay. The new rules would take effect from 2025.
With the widespread of remote work, the digitization of HR processes is gaining pace. But the problem remained of concluding remote employment contracts when the employee did not have a qualified signature. The solution was found by one employment agency, which signed an agreement with the Ministry of Digitization to use the functionality of the mObywatel application to confirm an employee’s identity. The entire process involves generating a one-time electronic signature for signing an employment contract. This solution, unlike the classic qualified signature, remains cost-free for the employee. Definitely, this is a milestone in the field of HR technology development and a way out of the market expectations for employers and employees.
A draft bill introducing “contribution holidays” was approved by the Council of Ministers on March 19, 2024. If the changes come into force, entrepreneurs will be able to skip the payment of social security contributions for one month per year of their choice. The new rules apply to entrepreneurs who pay contributions for no more than nine insured persons and whose annual revenues do not exceed EUR 2 million. Unfortunately, the holidays do not apply to healthcare contributions, which may be a significant inconvenience for entrepreneurs. The holidays do not affect entitlement to old-age, disability or sickness benefits, as the state will pay the contributions for entrepreneurs. Applications for the “contribution holidays” will be able to be submitted to the Social Security Office electronically. Restrictions on the use of the holidays will apply to those cooperating on a B2B basis who previously worked under employment contracts for their contractors.
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