Poland Permits Businesses with Overseas Units to Require Employees to Work on Holidays

Although in principle it is not allowed to instruct employees to do work on Sundays and statutory holidays, the Polish Labour Code provides for some exceptions to this rule. These exceptions apply primarily to sectors in which work must go on for technological reasons and sectors relevant to social welfare services such as hospitals, public transport or fire services. However, multinational corporations with service centers or other operations in Poland that provide services for their overseas units may take advantage of a special legal regulation which permits work on Sundays and statutory holidays.

It does not mean that employees of such businesses are always required to come to work on a day that is otherwise a statutory holiday for others. But they may be asked to do so when all of the following conditions are met:

• Work involves services performed using means of remote communication or telecommunications equipment (e.g. e-mail or phone);
• Such services are provided for a unit outside Poland;
• Days on which services are to be performed are statutory holidays in Poland and business days in the receiving country.

The obligation to work on statutory holidays does not, however, apply to all employees but only to those directly involved in providing services for an overseas unit and their supervisors. These will include center employees, their superiors, and maintenance personnel who ensure that centers operate efficiently. An employer may instruct them to work on statutory holidays and any refusal to comply will be treated as a serious breach of their duties. Employees who would nonetheless like to take a day off on such days should ask for leave following a standard procedure.

Employers are required to grant a day off in lieu of Sunday within six calendar days preceding or following the Sunday on which work is done, or during a reference period if work is done on a statutory holiday. If, however, leave cannot be granted during these periods, employees are entitled to an extra pay of 100% for each hour of work on such days.

By Chajec, Don-Siemion & Żyto Legal Advisers, Poland, a Transatlantic Law International affiliated firm. 

For further information or for any assistance regarding Polish labour law please contact Piotr Kryczek at polandlabor@transatlanticlaw.com.

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