Newsletter | Employment law in Poland | August 2026

The Chief Labour Inspector has issued the first individual interpretations concerning civil law contracts

The Chief Labour Inspector (GIP) has issued the first individual interpretations regarding the application of labour law provisions to determine whether the legal relationship described in the application constitutes an employment relationship within the meaning of the Labour Code. The Chief Labour Inspector’s ability to issue individual interpretations stems from the entry into force of the amendment to the Act on the State Labour Inspection (PIP). The interpretations are, for the most part, unfavourable to the applicants – out of eight cases, the Chief Labour Inspector accepted three models of cooperation and challenged five as exhibiting the characteristics of an employment relationship.

The key aspects taken into account by the PIP when issuing interpretations are, first and foremost, the contractor’s subordination to the employing entity, freedom in organising and planning tasks, and the personal nature of the tasks performed. In an interpretation ‘accepting’ the civil-law model of cooperation, the GIP stated that elements such as the contractor’s so-called ‘availability window’, time records, the use of company equipment or ISO standard requirements do not constitute features of an employment relationship, but rather represent the standard framework for the provision of services (in this case, within the IT sector).  In the GIP’s view, the civil-law nature of the legal relationship between the parties was determined primarily by: the contractor’s genuine ability to refuse an order, the lack of a guarantee of continuity of cooperation, contractual liability with contractual penalties, the possibility of substitution, and the contractor bearing the economic risk.  The interpretation also covered the role of a Project Manager in a B2B context, which the GIP accepted on condition that the contractor does not perform any employer functions.

Although individual interpretations relate solely to the applicant’s specific circumstances, they provide an indication of the criteria the PIP applies when assessing the existence of an employment relationship in a given set of facts.

First provisions of the platform directive revealed 

The Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy has published the first draft bill on the performance of work via digital labour platforms, dated 6 August 2026. The draft bill transposes the Directive on so-called platform work into the Polish law. 

As expected, the draft introduces a rebuttable legal presumption of the existence of an employment relationship. A significant difference compared with the Directive is that the presumption applies not only to the relationship between the platform and the person performing platform work, but also directly to intermediaries, which is a broader approach than that adopted in the Directive. The procedure for invoking the presumption is to take the form of proceedings before the State Labour Inspection (PIP), which may be initiated in two ways: (i) at the request of the platform worker or their representative, who submit an application to the PIP demonstrating the likelihood of an employment relationship, or (ii) ex officio, where circumstances established in the course of a PIP inspection indicate the likelihood of an employment relationship between the platform or intermediary and the platform worker. Once proceedings have been initiated, the platform and the intermediary have 14 days from the date of service of the notice to rebut the presumption. If the presumption is not rebutted or if a party waives the right to rebut it, the district labour inspector issues a decision confirming the existence of an employment relationship, with the employment contract deemed to have been concluded on the date the decision is issued. An appeal against the decision may be lodged with the labour court within one month. The draft bill also provides for the possibility of invoking the presumption directly before the labour court.

The presumption will not have retroactive effect — it will apply only to legal relationships established after 2 December 2026. 

The draft has been included in the government’s legislative agenda and has been put out for public consultation. The expected date for the draft’s adoption by the Council of Ministers is the fourth quarter of this year. 

Changes to the Employee Capital Plans (PPK) act – digitisation of the Polish Development Fund (PFR) notifications

On 7 August 2026, provisions introducing changes to the Employee Capital Plans (PPK) came into force.
Under the amendment, requests from the Polish Development Fund (PFR) to enter into PPK management agreements will henceforth be sent to employers exclusively in electronic form – via the ZUS Electronic Services Platform (PUE ZUS).

This change marks a shift away from traditional paper correspondence in favour of electronic delivery, which is intended to streamline and speed up the communication process between the PFR and employers. 

A notice is deemed to have been delivered on the day it is collected from the ZUS profile or 14 days after it has been made available, even if the employer does not open it. Employers should therefore ensure that they have an active account on PUE ZUS and regularly monitor incoming correspondence.

The Artificial Intelligence Systems Act is now in force 

On 11 August 2026, most of the provisions of the Act on Artificial Intelligence Systems came into force. Its purpose is to establish a national institutional and procedural framework for the enforcement of the provisions of the EU Regulation on Artificial Intelligence (the so-called AI Act) within Poland.  In particular, the Act specifies: the supervisory authority, the notifying authority, complaint and appeal procedures, rules for reporting incidents, mechanisms to support innovation, and rules for imposing penalties for breaches of the Regulation.

The most significant institutional change is the establishment of the Commission for the Development and Safety of Artificial Intelligence (KRiBSI) as the national supervisory authority for the AI market. The Commission comprises: the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK), the President of the Office of Electronic Communications (UKE), and representatives of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) and the National Broadcasting Council (KRRiT). A Public Council on Artificial Intelligence will operate under the Commission.

The AI Act is of significant importance in the field of labour law. AI systems used in recruitment or employee management are classified as high-risk systems within the meaning of the Regulation, which means there is an obligation to carry out a conformity assessment and obtain CE marking before their implementation.  

Women on Boards – new requirements for large listed companies

On 18 August 2026, provisions transposing EU regulations on ensuring gender balance on company boards (the so-called ‘Women on Boards’ Directive) into the Polish law came into force. 

Large listed companies will have to ensure that the under-represented gender (i.e. the one holding no more than 49 per cent of positions) accounts for a proportion as close as possible to 33 per cent of all seats on management and supervisory boards combined. The new obligations also include adopting a gender balance policy and publishing an annual report on gender representation on the company’s governing bodies.

Furthermore, companies will be required to establish clear, objective and non-discriminatory rules for the selection of candidates before the recruitment process begins. Where candidates’ qualifications are comparable, priority will be given to a person belonging to the gender that has been under-represented to date. Individuals whose recruitment rights have been breached will be entitled to claim compensation in court (in an amount not less than the minimum wage). If a rejected candidate demonstrates that their qualifications are equivalent, the burden of proof that no discrimination took place will rest with the company.

The President of Poland has referred the bill to the Constitutional Tribunal for subsequent review.

Tighter rules on the legalisation of employment for citizens of certain countries

On 22 August 2026, more restrictive regulations governing the employment in Poland of citizens of Colombia, Venezuela and Georgia came into force.

Under the new regulations, simply holding a work permit is not sufficient – it is also necessary to hold a valid visa or residence permit entitling the holder to work in Poland. The previous practice of relying solely on visa-free travel as the basis for employment is no longer permitted.

Employees who took up employment before the changes came into force, under the visa-free regime, retain the right to continue working – but only until their visa-free stay limit has been exhausted. Entrepreneurs working with citizens from the countries listed should carry out an audit of their employees’ residence documentation as soon as possible to avoid the risk of breaching the new regulations.