At the end of March 2016, Poland’s Minister for Labor and Social Policy presented a draft law to the social partners for consultation on implementing legislation in line with the Constitutional Tribunal’s ruling of 02 June 2015. The ruling declared that only recognizing the freedom of association for salaried employees working under an employment contract ran contrary to both the Polish Constitution that guarantees freedom of association, and to the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) Convention No. 87, with Poland being an ILO member country. The text strengthens several measures to bolster union rights.
In its June 2015 ruling, the Constitutional Tribunal had ruled that the definition of ‘worker’ should be extended to include all who receive payments by a third party in exchange for work carried out, regardless of the legal basis of the working relationship (c.f. article No. 9216). Poland is estimated to have some 3 million so-called ‘independent’ workers (where they work under civil law with specific project employment contracts).
Do you have information to share with us?