Employment law in Poland | April 2026

Reform of the State Labour Inspection (PIP)

On 2 April 2026, the President of Poland signed the amendment to the Act on the National Labour Inspection, simultaneously referring it to the Constitutional Tribunal for subsequent review.

The Act provides the PIP with new tools for reclassifying B2B contracts, contracts for specific tasks and other civil law contracts as employment contracts. Where a district labour inspector finds that a contract for specific tasks or a service is being performed under conditions characteristic of an employment relationship, the inspector will be empowered to issue an order to remedy the breaches (either by amending the terms of the existing contract or by concluding an employment contract). 

In the event of failure to comply with the order, the regional labour inspector may, by way of a decision, establish the existence of an employment relationship (against which either party may lodge an appeal) or bring an action before the court to determine the existence or content of the employment relationship. The decision becomes enforceable on the day following the expiry of the time limit for lodging an appeal (if neither party has lodged one), or on the date of the court’s final judgment, or on the date on which it is declared immediately enforceable.

Furthermore, the new provisions introduce a procedure whereby the Chief Labour Inspector issues binding individual interpretations as to whether a given legal relationship is performed under an employment contract. If the facts established during an inspection differ from those described in the application for an interpretation, the competent PIP authority will be entitled to assess the actual nature of that legal relationship.

Most of the provisions of the Act, including those providing for the possibility of reclassifying a civil law contract as an employment contract, will come into force on 8 July 2026.

An official appeal from the Chief Labour Inspector has been published on the National Labour Inspectorate’s website, stating that until the new regulations come into force, any complaints lodged before that date will be dealt with in accordance with the currently applicable rules, and recommending refraining from lodging complaints regarding the incorrect use of civil law contracts until 8 July 2026.

The new rates for one-off compensation payments 

From 1 April 2026, pursuant to a notice from the Minister of Family, Labour and Social Policy, new, higher rates for one-off compensation for accidents at work or occupational diseases will apply.
Until 31 March 2027, the following new amounts for lump-sum compensation and the amount per percentage of impairment for the above-mentioned causes apply, including: 

• PLN 1,781 for each percentage of permanent or long-term health impairment; 
  PLN 31,162 in the event of a ruling of total incapacity for work and the insured person’s inability to live independently; 
  PLN 80,132 if a family member of the deceased insured person or pensioner, other than a spouse or child, is entitled to a lump-sum compensation payment;
  PLN 160,264 if the spouse or child of the deceased insured person or pensioner is entitled to compensation.

Other amounts depend, among other things, on who is entitled (e.g. other family members) and on the number of entitled persons. Link to the announcement.

New regulations on sick leave are now in force

On 13 April 2026, part of the amendments to the Act on Cash Benefits from Social Insurance in the Event of Illness and Maternity came into force.

Under the new regulations, an insured person may lose their entitlement to sick pay for the entire period of sick leave if, during the period of certified incapacity for work, they perform paid work or engage in activities inconsistent with the purpose of that sick leave. The Act also clarifies the above definitions. 

At the same time, the principle remains in force that sick leave is intended to safeguard health and facilitate recovery. During this period, the insured person should not engage in activities that could hinder this. Exceptionally, it is permissible to carry out ordinary daily activities or incidental tasks which, due to significant circumstances, must be undertaken during the period of sick leave. As before, the undertaking of such activities will be verified and assessed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the circumstances of the case.

Furthermore, a provision has been introduced into the so-called Benefits Act which clarifies situations where a person is covered by social insurance under at least two different schemes. In such cases, incapacity for work due to illness applies to each of these titles, for which sick leave is issued separately. The amendment also clarifies the rules for monitoring the correct use of sick leave.

Changes To Occupational Medical Examinations

On 17 April 2026, the Minister of Health’s regulation on preventive medical examinations for employees came into force.

One of the main changes to the regulations is the introduction of electronic medical certificates. Until now, certificates were issued exclusively in paper form, whereas from now on they may be drawn up electronically, recorded in the Medical Information System and made available to the employee via the Online Patient Account. The option to use a paper-based document template has also been retained – where the electronic format is not available or at the patient’s request.

The regulations also provide for new templates for medical certificates – separate for each type of examination (initial, periodic, follow-up). The scope of information in the medical certificate provided to the employer has also been clarified (depending on the type of certificate), including indications regarding the need to adapt a specific job role to reduce occupational risks, and the health hazards to the employee present in that specific role. Another change is the extension of the occupational health doctor’s remit to include the ability to issue individual health recommendations, taking into account non-occupational health aspects as well. Recommendations are drawn up in paper or electronic form.

The transitional provisions allow for medical certificates to be issued and transmitted under the existing rules, but for no longer than 6 months from the date the regulation comes into force.

Employment seniority under the new rules from may

From 1 May 2026, the provisions of the amendment to the Labour Code of 26 September 2025 concerning the rules for calculating length of service (so-called general and company-specific length of service) will come into force for employers who are not public sector entities (so-called private employers).

The amended provisions stipulate that the period of employment (so-called general length of service), on which certain entitlements related to the employment relationship depend (including the amount of annual leave), will include, amongst other things: periods during which a natural person carried out non-agricultural business activities (so-called sole proprietorship), periods of cooperation with a natural person conducting such business, periods during which a natural person performs a contract of mandate or another contract for the provision of services to which, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code, the provisions concerning contracts of mandate apply, periods during which a natural person performed an agency contract, periods during which a natural person was a member of an agricultural production cooperative, as well as periods during which a natural person was a member of a farmers’ circle cooperative. The condition for counting the above-mentioned periods towards the so-called length of service is that the person was subject to social insurance during those periods and paid contributions in respect thereof.

Furthermore, the new regulations provide for the inclusion in the period of employment with a given employer (so-called ‘length of service with the employer’) periods of conducting non-agricultural business, performing a contract of mandate or other contract for the provision of services, performing an agency contract, or acting as a collaborator in the conduct of non-agricultural business, provided that the work performed on the aforementioned bases was carried out for that employer. As in the case of general service, the inclusion of the above-mentioned periods in company service is only possible if social security contributions were paid for those periods.

ZUS provides a tool for employers to verify employment history

In light of the new rules for calculating length of service, the Social Insurance Authority (ZUS) has launched the “Stażowe” service. This tool allows employers to confirm the authenticity of certificates issued by ZUS at the employee’s request (USP) and to quickly verify whether the document is valid. 

The service has been available since 31 March 2026 at zus.pl (Search engines and services → Verification of the authenticity of ZUS certificates issued at the request of USP / eZUS).

The service does not verify certificates issued by ZUS on the basis of other applications (e.g. US-7).

Further information is available here.