Termination of the employment contract

Based on: Dz. U 1998.21.94 Labor Code;
L. Florek, T. Zieliński, Labor Law, BECK Publishing House, Warsaw 2008

Termination of the employment contract without notice

consists in submitting a unilateral declaration of intent to the other party to the employment relationship that results in the immediate termination of the employment relationship. It may apply to any employment contract, but it can take place only if there are exceptional reasons and after meeting the requirements specified in the Code.

Such termination should be submitted in writing and contain: an expression of the will to terminate the contract and justifying reasons. The employer must also provide information on the legal remedies to which the employee is entitled - that is, the possibility of submitting an appeal to the Labor Court within 21 days of receiving the dissolution statement.

Termination of the employment contract without notice by the employer may occur for reasons attributable to the employee:

• serious violation of basic employee duties by the employee !!! The concept of "serious breach of basic employee obligations" includes three elements. These are: unlawful conduct of the employee (violation of the basic employee's obligation), violation or threat to the interests of the employer, as well as culpability involving both intentional guilt and gross negligence. The justified reason for terminating an employment contract with this employee in this mode need not only be a culpable employee misconduct causing material damage to property of the employer. Such a cause may also be the employee's culpable behavior causing a threat to the employer's interests. Uch SN 17.07.2009 (I PK 43/09)
• committing an offense by the employee during the term of the employment contract that prevents him from continuing to be employed in his position (if the commission of the offense is obvious or has been confirmed by a final judgment) and
• culpable loss of the employee's entitlements necessary to perform work in the position held, and for reasons not attributable to:
• if the employee's inability to work due to illness continues:
• longer than 3 months - if the employee has been employed for a given employer for less than 6 months,
• longer than the total period of receiving remuneration and allowance on this account and receiving a rehabilitation benefit for the first 3 months - if the employee was employed by the employer for at least 6 months or if the incapacity for work was caused by an accident at work or an occupational disease,
• in the event of an employee's justified absence from work for reasons other than those listed above, lasting for more than 1 month.

An important fact is that the termination of the employment contract without notice due to the fault of the employee may not take place after 1 month from the employer being aware of the circumstances justifying the termination of the contract.

In addition, termination of the employment contract without notice may not take place in the event of the employee's absence from work due to the care of the child - during the period of receiving the benefit in this respect, and in the case of isolation of the employee due to an infectious disease - during the period of receiving remuneration and the benefit , and also cannot take place after the employee appears to work in connection with the cessation of the reason for absence.

The employer is obliged to decide on the termination of the contract (both for culpable reasons and those without the employee's fault) after seeking the opinion of the employee representing the company trade union organization, which he notifies about the reason justifying the termination of the contract. In the event of any objection as to the legitimacy of termination, the trade union organization shall express its opinion without delay, but no later than within 3 days (this is the authority and not the obligation of the association)

Employee claims.

An employee with whom the employment contract has been terminated without notice in breach of the provisions on the termination of employment contracts in this mode, is entitled to a reinstatement to work on previous conditions or for compensation (according to the choice), as ruled by the Labor Court. The condition is to submit an appeal within 21 days of receipt of the decision to terminate the employment relationship.

An employee who took up work as a result of reinstatement to work, is entitled to remuneration for remaining unemployed, but not more than for 3 months and not less than 1 month.

Compensation, however, is payable in the amount of remuneration for the period of notice. If the employment contract was terminated for a definite period of time or for a specified period of work, compensation is payable in the amount of the remuneration for which the contract was to last, but not more than in 3 months.

There are cases where you can only claim damages:

• in the event of termination by the employer of an employment contract concluded for a fixed period or for a specific period of time, in breach of the provisions on termination of employment contracts without notice, j if the period until which the contract was to have expired has already expired, or if reinstatement to work would be inappropriate due to the short period remaining until the expiry of that period
• if the employer terminated the employment contract during the notice period in violation of the provisions on termination of employment contracts without notice

Termination of the employment contract without notice by the employee may occur only for the following reasons:

• if a medical certificate is issued stating the harmful effect of the work on the employee's health, and the employer does not transfer it within the time limit indicated in the medical certificate to another job appropriate for his health and professional qualifications.
• when the employer has seriously violated the basic obligations of the employee; in this case, the employee is entitled to compensation in the amount of remuneration for the period of notice, and if the employment contract was concluded for a specified period or for the time of performing a specific job - in the amount of remuneration for a period of 2 weeks.

The employee's statement about the termination of the employment contract without notice should be made in writing, stating the reason justifying the termination of the contract. They can be submitted no later than within 1 month of obtaining the message authorizing them to terminate the contract.

Termination of the employment contract in the manner mentioned above entails the effects of the law related to the termination of the contract by the employer with notice (this is a protective provision for the employee) The Code also provides for a few more cases of termination of the employment contract without observing the employee's notice period:

• An employee who before returning to work took up employment with another employer may, without notice, with three days prior notice, terminate the employment contract with that employer within 7 days of reinstatement.
• Within 2 months of the transfer of an establishment or part thereof to another employer, an employee may terminate the employment relationship without notice, with seven days' notice
• the legal representative of an employee with limited legal capacity with the permission of the guardianship court may terminate the employment relationship if he / she objects to the good of that employee

In any case, it is worth remembering that the employer is entitled to a compensation claim in the event of an unjustified termination of the employment contract by the employee, regardless of whether the employer suffered damage (judgment of Supreme Court 2005.04.29, III PK 2/05)

The remuneration is the same as the employee's remuneration in the event of termination without notice.