If an employee encounters a violation of labor rights in Poland, he has the right to file a lawsuit in court and complain to the National Labor Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy – PIP), as well as to the tax, sanitary and epidemiological supervision or the Social Insurance Fund (Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych – ZUS) – depending on what kind of violation takes place. Any employee working under a work contract, work contract or even without a contract has the right to protect their rights and receive legal advice.
Perhaps the most frequent violation of workers’ rights faced by foreign citizens working in Poland is non-payment of wages.
If the employer has not paid wages or violated other conditions of cooperation established in the contract, then you should try to resolve this problem amicably directly with the employer. The employer must be warned that if the issue is not resolved, then you intend to go to court or to the labor inspectorate. A complaint to the PIP labor inspectorate is an alternative to filing a claim in court. It can be sent by regular mail, e-mail, fax or delivered in person.
There is no single form for filing a complaint, but it is important that it contains the following information:
- date and place of filing the complaint;
- the name of the body to which the complaint is directed;
- name and surname of the applicant;
- residential address and contact phone number;
- company name, NIP number;
- a detailed description of the violation with confirmation (any documents that confirm the employment relationship are useful here, including: an employment contract, working time documents – schedules / input and output cards, correspondence by email or in a messenger, consent of witnesses to confirm labor relations, etc.).
It is important to note that PIP does not deal with anonymous complaints and therefore the employee must be sure to provide their personal data. However, he can indicate that he wants to remain anonymous.
Filing a complaint with PIP is free of charge and the employee does not incur any costs for handling the complaint. The verification process of the employer is carried out at the expense of the state. The labor inspector checks the circumstances set out in the complaint, and sends information about the progress and results of the check to the employee at the specified address within 30 days from the date of receipt of the complaint.
If a violation of labor relations is established, the inspector has the right to apply legal measures. For example, oblige the employer to resolve the issue, oblige to take action against the guilty persons, suspend work or activities, fine the company or go to labor court.
Usually, PIP considers only complaints under employment contracts, and does not control civil law contracts (that is, brainwashing).
However, if the employee performs work personally for the employer and under his supervision, at the place and time specified by the employer, then the employment relationship takes place. Only the labor inspector has no right to make a decision on the existence of an employment relationship, since his issuance of this decision falls within the competence of the labor court.
The employee can also independently defend his rights in the labor court. In the case of civil law contracts, you can defend your rights in civil proceedings. In this case, the protection of their rights is connected with the plaintiff’s legal costs until they are released by a court decision.