Changes in the Labour Code – parental leave
On June 17, 2013 a law introducing amendments concerning
parental benefits for employees entered into force. Alongside
changes with respect to the existing parenthood-related leaves, a
new type of a leave has been introduced: a paid parental leave of
26 weeks. An employer must grant the employee parental leave upon
the employee's request, in 1 to 3 allotments, each of them not
shorter than 8 weeks. The parental leave is due in addition to the
maternity leave (20 weeks in the case one child is born; 31-37
weeks in the case of multiple births) and the additional maternity
leave (now increased from 4 to 6 weeks in the case one child is
borne and from 6 to 8 weeks in the case of multiple births). The
parental leave may be used by one of the parents or simultaneously
by both parents; however in the latter case, the joint length of
the parents' leave may not exceed 26 weeks. Furthermore,
employed parents are now entitled to childcare leave (unpaid) until
their child reaches the age of 5 (previously the limit was 4 years
of age).
Expected Changes in the Labour Code – working
time
The Polish Parliament has finished work on the amendments to the
Labour Code concerning working time. The Lower House of Parliament
has accepted some minor changes to the bill proposed by the Senate
and the new act has been passed to the President for his signature.
Once signed by the President (who also has the power to reject the
act) and published in the Official Journal, the new law will enter
into force after 14 days.
The new law, inter alia, would allow for the extension of
the work time settlement period up to 12 months in each working
time system, which could allow working time to be balanced over a
longer period and could materially decrease operational costs in
particular in season-specific businesses. Furthermore, the new law
would make it possible to introduce flexible working hours
(employees could come to the office at different times every day
without exposing the employer to overtime risks). However, both new
solutions could only be introduced within procedures requiring the
trade unions' or employee representatives'
participation.
Supreme Court ruling – employee's refusal to
enter into a non-competition agreement
In the recently published ruling of February 12, 2013 (II PK
165/12), the Supreme Court confirmed the prevailing opinion that an
employee is entitled to refuse to enter into a non-competition
agreement following the termination of employment without bearing
negative consequences, such as termination of employment, if the
offered agreement is contrary to the provisions of law. In the
analysed case, the dismissed employee defended before the court his
decision to refuse to sign the non-competition agreement by saying
that the amount of the contractual penalty (liquidated damages)
inserted in the draft was grossly excessive. The Supreme Court
stressed that the what needs to be primarily examined is the
proportion between the overall compensation under the
non-competition agreement and the contractual penalty. The penalty
equal to 24-months' salary was not deemed grossly excessive in
the Court's opinion. In one of its earlier judgments, the
Supreme Court accepted a PLN 200,000 contractual penalty where the
compensation for the non-competition obligation amounted to PLN
90,000.
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