The Polish legislator is currently working on a new set of employment-related laws which will have a significant impact on conducting business activity in Poland:
– a set of laws implementing the General Data Protection Regulation
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has became applicable in Poland on 25 May 2018. It has a significant impact on rules relating to the processing of personal data of employees, including their biometric data. In particular, new provisions will soon be introduced to the Labour Code that will list the categories of personal data that may be processed by employers and will modify the principles of processing data obtained when referring employees for obligatory medical check-ups.
– changes to the Act on Combating Unfair Competition
The Polish parliament is currently working on introducing amendments to the Act on Combating Unfair Competition due to Poland’s obligation to implement the Trade Secrets Directive. A new piece of legislation will introduce changes in relation to the confidentiality duties of employees, adjust some of the Act’s definitions to EU requirements, and provide employers with additional procedural entitlements. The implementation process started in early January 2018 and will probably end within the next month .
– Act on Abolishing the Maximum Amount of Social Security Contributions
On 24 November 2017, the Polish parliament passed a bill which abolishes the limit on the maximum annual basis for calculating pension contributions. The bill is currently being examined by the Polish Constitutional Tribunal after being referred there by the Polish president.
– Act on Employees’ Pension Schemes
The Polish government plans to introduce obligatory pension schemes – a new way of accumulating savings for retirement. The draft of the law, which includes the basic principles of setting up the scheme, was published recently and is now being reviewed by social partners . If the new law comes into force, the process of implementing the pension schemes will start in 2019.
– Act on Transparency in Public Life
The Polish government is working on legislation to protect whistleblowers against termination when reporting some types of business-related crimes. According to the initial wording of the draft law, employers will have some additional duties, including developing and implementing an anti-corruption code.
In the following entries we will provide you with more information about the new laws and their potential impact on your business.