On September 7 2019, significant changes to the rules on issuing employment certificates to employees in connection with the termination of cooperation with the employer will come into force.

Under the new rules, employers will be required to issue employment certificates to employees on the date on which their employment ends. Employers that are not able to do this for objective reasons will be required to provide the employment certificate to the employee within the next seven days.

Employees who receive an employment certificate containing incorrect information will have 14 days to request that the employer correct it. If the employer refuses to do so, employees will have another 14 days to file a request with a labour court to have it corrected.

Under the new regulations, an employee may file a claim against the employer with a labour court if  he/she does not receive an employment certificate and the employer may be fined from PLN 1,000 to PLN 30,000 for failing to issue an employment certificate within the set deadline.

At the same time, due to the entry into force of the new provisions of the Labor Code limiting the scope of personal data that may be collected and processed by the employer in connection with the employment of employees, the model of the employment certificate which should be issued to the employee has changed. One of the key changes to be implemented is the removal of information on the names of the employee’s parents, which should no longer be processed by employers.

In connection with entry into force of the new rules, we recommend that employers use the new model of the employment certificates as well as introduce changes to the rules of providing the employment certificates to employees.