It's the nuances and the schedule that decide. When will the court and when will the National Labor Inspectorate recognize your B2B as an employment contract?
It is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between an employment contract and a B2B contract, they overlap, legal advisor Ewelina Pietrzak-Wojnicz told PAP. She emphasized that in court proceedings to establish an employment relationship, nuances may be decisive, e.g. the employee's schedule.
This week, the government adopted a project to reform the National Labor Inspectorate. The regulation prepared by the Ministry of Labor assumes that PIP will be granted the right to convert apparent civil law contracts into employment contracts.
Legal advisor Ewelina Pietrzak-Wojnicz in an interview with PAP reminded that the National Labor Inspectorate already has the authority to initiate proceedings to establish an employment relationship. – The changes are intended to include, among other things, the fact that inspectors will be able to apply for the determination of the content of an employment relationship, i.e. they will be able to fight for the conditions under which an employee or co-worker will work – she said.
According to the project, the district labor inspector – in the event of finding irregularities – will be able to choose the means of reaction: from issuing an order, through issuing a decision confirming the existence of an employment relationship or filing a lawsuit to court.
According to the legal advisor, the project requires further clarification, including: the deadline for carrying out the inspector's order regarding the transformation of the contract. – It cannot be that in one place it is 7 days and in another place it is 30 days – she explained.
The project assumes that any appeal against the decision of the district labor inspector can be lodged with the court within 30 days. The court will consider the appeal within 30 days.
– In Warsaw, it is basically unheard of for a court to deal with a case that comes before it within 30 days. In district courts, as a rule, we wait about six months to a year for the first hearing – noted Pietrzak-Wojnicz.
She also pointed out the most important differences between an employment contract and a civil law contract. She explained that they concern, among others: issues of replacement at work, payment of wages, subordination or leaves.
– If I employ an employee under an employment contract, he has to work for me, which means he cannot arrange a replacement, even a person who has the same competences and experience. In the case of a civil law contract, this is possible, said the legal advisor.
Moreover – as she added – in the case of an employment contract, “we act under the management of the employer”, who has the last word and says what should be done, even if the employee does not agree with it. – At the same time, the employee bears limited liability, most often up to three wages, if his or her actions would cause damage – the lawyer emphasized. Meanwhile, people working under B2B contracts are fully responsible for their actions.
The difference between an employment contract and a civil law contract also concerns access to leaves and benefits, although here – as the expert admitted – the practice is starting to change. – It sometimes happens that a co-worker negotiates a B2B contract with the company, which assumes the so-called paid break from work. This is also one of the issues that the court examines – how the remuneration is paid and how it is determined – she explained.
Differences between contracts are also related to the place and time of work. – Not everyone has to work under an employment contract, but if they decide to do so, they must take into account that they are at their employer's disposal at specific hours and can only leave the workplace with his consent – the lawyer emphasized.
She pointed out that it is currently much more difficult to distinguish the type of contracts concluded, because in fact they overlap.
– That's why we look for nuances in court proceedings. This is, for example, a matter of scheduling. There was a case of a B2B person who filed a lawsuit against the company arguing that other employees employed under an employment contract performed the same work as her. However, during the case it turned out that she had priority to add herself to the schedule when it suited her. This was also her advantage over these employees. That's why the court didn't agree with her, the expert said.
Ewelina Pietrzak-Wojnicz admitted that many cases concerning the establishment of an employment relationship are pending in courts. – They most often appear when an employee has an accident at work. Then the person employed in B2B remembers that as an employee he would have more rights. It also happens that co-workers are years away from seniority or retirement, she said.
What distinguishes an employment contract from, for example, a contract of mandate is also salary protection. – If bailiff proceedings are brought against an employee, the employer receives information about the so-called wage seizure. Then its part in the form of the minimum wage is protected. This cannot be handed over to the bailiff. There is no such security in other contracts, Pietrzak-Wojnicz noted.
According to the lawyer, the National Labor Inspectorate is now intervening too slowly, which is why its activities need to be improved. – The fact that the inspection will be given the opportunity to issue administrative decisions regarding the transformation of contracts is inevitable, but there is also a need to defend against such a mechanism so that it is not abused – she said.
The Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy reported that at the end of the second quarter of 2025, nearly 1.5 million people worked in Poland exclusively on commission and related contracts. This – as the ministry noted – is the highest since the Central Statistical Office publishes this data.
The PIP reform, especially the possibility of transforming civil law contracts into employment contracts, has sparked extensive discussions in recent months. Entrepreneurs were against this change and trade unions defended it. The Ministry of Labor and Social Policy argued that the purpose of the changes was to provide greater protection for employees and to combat the so-called rubbish employment.
The parliament will now consider the PIP reform project.
Karolina Kropiwiec (PAP)
kkr/akar/
