The signed amendment to the National Labour Inspectorate Act changes the way relationships between a company and a person performing work are assessed. For employers, this means one thing: it will be much harder to rely on the name of the contract alone as proof that a cooperation model is safe. What will matter increasingly is how the relationship functions in practice and whether it actually does not meet the characteristics of an employment relationship.
This is an important change, especially for companies relying on civil law contracts and B2B cooperation models. The new regulations strengthen the position of the National Labour Inspectorate (PIP) in assessing whether a given person truly operates as an independent contractor or in fact functions like an employee. Inspectors will look not only at the formal wording of the contract, but also at the day-to-day organization of work: who decides on the form of cooperation, who determines the place and time of performing tasks, how much independence the contractor has, and whether that person works within the internal procedures binding in the organization.
“From a business perspective, this means that operational compliance is becoming more important. The risk will no longer arise solely from a flawed contract structure, but also from discrepancies between the documents and reality. If a company enters into a B2B contract and then manages that cooperation as if it were a classic employment relationship, it must reckon with a much greater likelihood that such a model will be challenged,” says Łukasz Koszczoł, President of Job Impulse.
At the same time, the Act provides for a specific sequence of actions on the part of the inspectorate. First, there is to be an order to remedy the violations, and only later an administrative decision. Immediate enforceability is to apply exclusively to selected groups covered by special protection, including pregnant women, employees of pre-retirement age, and trade union activists. At the same time, the level of sanctions is increasing: fines for offences may range from PLN 2,000 to PLN 60,000, and in the event of a repeated violation from PLN 3,000 to PLN 90,000. A fine imposed directly by an inspector may amount to as much as PLN 10,000.
However, the amendment does not close the door on companies seeking to put their situation in order. The legislator has left two instruments in place that may reduce the scale of the risk. The first is the possibility of obtaining an individual interpretation from the Chief Labour Inspectorate (GIP) that is binding on the PIP. The second is a 12-month period during which entrepreneurs will be able to voluntarily regularize relationships previously concluded under conditions that in fact corresponded to an employment relationship.
For employers, this is a good moment to move from merely observing the changes to taking concrete action. In practice, it is worth starting with a review of all cooperation models in which there are elements of organizational subordination, fixed working hours, a top-down imposed place of work, or limited independence of the contractor. Cases involving persons under special protection require particular attention. “The goal should not be to abandon flexible forms of cooperation, but to organize them in such a way that they reflect the true nature of the relationship and eliminate ambiguity,” emphasizes Łukasz Koszczoł, President of Job Impulse.
