2026-01-16 08:07
publication
2026-01-16 08:07
The new version of the draft reform of the National Labor Inspectorate will provide for two weeks to appeal against the inspector's decision to transform a civil law contract into an employment contract; disputes will be resolved by the labor departments of common courts – PAP sources in the New Left say.
At the beginning of last week, the Prime Minister Donald Tusk stated that work on the National Labor Inspectorate reform project prepared by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy will not be continued.. In his opinion, excessive power for officials introduced by the reform would be destructive for companies and would mean many people losing their jobs. The project included, among others: enabling district inspectors to change contracts for specific work, mandate contracts or B2B contracts into employment contracts.
Giving PIP these rights is one of the so-called milestones, the implementation of which determines the payment of funds from the National Reconstruction Plan. Poland has time to implement the EU directive until June 30 this year.
A few days later, the head of government met with the chairman of the New Left, Speaker of the Sejm, Włodzimierz Czarzasty. After the meeting, both politicians said that the matter of PIP reform would be continued. Czarzasty emphasized that in the new proposal, the court will be the final instance deciding on the transformation of civil law contracts into employment contracts.
Work on the new version of the project is continued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, led by Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk from Nowa Lewica. The ministry also cooperates with the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy.
New refreshed version
According to PAP's sources in the New Left, the refreshed proposal assumes that both the employer and the employee will have two weeks to appeal against the inspector's decision on the need to transform the contract.. They are to be the bodies competent to resolve disputes labor departments of common courts. – Until the court resolves this case, the inspector's decision will not enter into force – explained one of the interlocutors.
– We don't want these matters to drag on for years, that's why the head of the Ministry of Justice, Waldemar Żurek, is to launch it additional 150 units dealing with employee matters – said a leading politician of the Czarzasty party.
The PIP reform initially planned in the Ministry of Labor, especially the possibility of transforming civil law contracts into employment contracts, has so far aroused discussions. Entrepreneurs were against this change, but trade unions defended it.
The proposed solution was assessed negatively by, among others, Government Legislation Center. The comments on the draft state that the regulation violates the constitutional principles of freedom to conduct business activity, freedom to choose and pursue a profession, and choice of place of work.
In response, the Ministry of Labor emphasized that the project does not introduce arbitrary violations of the freedom to conduct a business, but specifies the procedure for detecting and correcting abuses in the use of civil law contracts in place of an employment relationship.. According to the ministry, the reasons for introducing new powers for inspectors include: the scale of the phenomenon of concluding civil law contracts instead of employment contracts, which absolutely must be prevented.
The bill on the PIP reform also provided for:: exchange of information and data between ZUS, PIP and KAS for the purposes of control and risk analysis; improving PIP inspections by introducing remote inspections and using technical devices enabling remote inspection activities, introducing electronic documentation prepared during inspections, in particular inspection protocols. The regulation also introduced, among others: solutions regarding the amount of fines for offenses against employee rights aimed at ensuring more effective protection of employees and acting as a deterrent to employers who do not comply with labor law provisions.
Agata Andrzejczak (PAP)
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