Publication date: February 23, 2026
Labor law, as it regulates one of the key aspects of life, which is performing work in order to obtain funds ensuring a decent living, is one of the most important branches of law. As such, it must be constantly amended to adapt to the dynamically changing reality of life.
An important aspect of entering into an employment relationship is the level of knowledge the applicant has about the future job and its conditions. This allows for a conscious entry into a legal relationship with the employer. New regulations, introduced under the Act of 4 June 2025 amending the Labor Code (Journal of Laws, item 807), come into effect on Christmas Eve. They will require employers to provide information on all remuneration components, regardless of their name and nature, as well as other work-related benefits granted to employees in cash or otherwise. The initial amount or range of remuneration will also be required. All amounts must be based on objective, neutral criteria, particularly with respect to gender. Another mandatory information that employees will be required to receive is information on the provisions of the collective bargaining agreement or remuneration regulations, if such optional documents have been adopted at the workplace.
The information outlined above will need to be included in the job advertisement. However, failure to do so will not, as yet, entail any consequences. If this information was missing from the advertisement, the employer will be obligated to inform the candidate of its content before the interview. If it is not provided even then, the employee will ultimately be required to know it before signing the contract.
As for job advertisements themselves, they will be required to be gender-neutral. As for the recruitment process, the law will mandate that it be conducted in a non-discriminatory manner.
In addition to this information, the candidate will also be granted the right not to disclose their salary for their current position and all previous positions. This right is intended to protect against potential manipulation and pressure regarding remuneration, as this is a key issue.
Counting towards the period of employment
Another change, introduced by the Act of 26 September 2025 amending the Labor Code and certain other acts (Journal of Laws, item 1423), will concern the calculation of employment period. This period is important because of the benefits granted after achieving a certain length of service. These include, for example, increased leave entitlement.
According to the new regulations, the period of service in uniformed services and special services, including the military, currently included in these regulations, will be included in the employment period. Officers of the Marshal’s Guard and the Customs and Tax Service will be added to the list. This is undoubtedly a nod to officers who, after a period of service to ensure the proper functioning of the Polish government, leave for civilian life and have previously experienced worse treatment than their colleagues in other services.
The new regulations also include non-agricultural activities as employment, meaning, to simplify matters, such as running a business or practicing a freelance profession, and collaboration therein, as well as the performance of a mandate contract or other service contract if the provisions on mandate apply, i.e., so-called innominate contracts. The period of performance of an agency contract will also be considered a period of employment, as well as collaboration in the performance of this contract, mandate contracts, and the aforementioned other service contracts.
The cooperating person referred to in this text is considered to be the spouse, one’s own children, children of the other spouse and adopted children, parents, stepmother and stepfather, and adoptive parents if they live with them in a common household and cooperate in conducting the specified activity.
Another group whose activities are counted towards the employment period is membership in agricultural production cooperatives and agricultural circles. I believe this is intended to provide these individuals with some security for the future, particularly the opportunity to change jobs or retrain. For the above-mentioned periods to count towards employment, these individuals must be covered by social security (pension and disability insurance) during their periods, pursuant to separate regulations.
The new regulations will also introduce significant benefits for entrepreneurs who use the so-called “start-up relief” by counting the period of use of this entitlement towards their employment period. Their collaborators will have this period counted towards their employment period if they have opted to pay pension and disability insurance contributions, which is not mandatory for spouses.
The period of employment will also include the period during which the person suspended their business activity to provide personal care for the child. The same applies to a collaborator who suspended their professional activity to provide care for the child. This is a significant relief for parents.
A major facilitation, also important in the context of the EU principle of free movement of workers, will be the inclusion of the time spent working on a basis other than an employment contract towards the period of employment.
The period of employment required from candidates for specific positions in recruitment for vacant positions initiated and not completed before the date of entry into force of this Act by an employer that is not a public finance sector entity is not included in the calculation of the period of employment required from candidates for specific positions in recruitment for vacant positions initiated and not completed before the date of entry into force of this Act.
Including the period of employment with a specific employer
The method for calculating employment time with a specific employer will also change. This is important, for example, in determining the notice period for an employment relationship. Periods of non-agricultural business activity, performance of a mandate contract or other service contract are included in the employee’s employment period with a given employer. The provisions regarding mandate contracts, performance of agency contracts, being a collaborator with the aforementioned, being a member of an agricultural production cooperative, being a member of a cooperative of agricultural circles, performing activities covered by the start-up tax relief, or performing paid work on a basis other than an employment relationship abroad apply accordingly.
If the periods described above overlap, the most favorable, i.e. the longest, one is taken into account.
The periods referred to in non-agricultural activities, cooperation with an entrepreneur covered by the “start-up relief”, suspension of non-agricultural activities and cooperation in conducting such activities for the purpose of childcare are confirmed by a certificate issued by the Social Insurance Institution on the payment of contributions for retirement, disability or accident insurance for a given period on a given basis.
The periods of performance of a contract of mandate or other contract for the provision of services if the provisions on commission apply to it, an agency contract and cooperation in the performance of these contracts are confirmed by a certificate issued by the Social Insurance Institution on the coverage of pension and disability insurance.
The periods of entrepreneurial coverage under the “start-up relief” are confirmed by a certificate issued by the Social Insurance Institution on registration for health insurance
An application for issuing a certificate by the Social Insurance Institution is submitted by the person whose periods of employment are to be included in the employment period, in electronic form using an information profile created in the IT system provided by the Social Insurance Institution.