Work regulations are an internal source of labor law. As indicated by Art. 104 § 1 of the Labor Code, it determines the organization and order of work, as well as the rights and obligations of the parties to the employment relationship, i.e. the employer and the employee. An employer employing at least 50 employees is obliged to introduce work regulations, however, he is exempt from this obligation if the rights and obligations of the parties are specified in a collective labor agreement. An employer employing fewer than 50 employees, but at least 20, is obliged to introduce work regulations if such a request is made by the company trade union organization and the workplace does not have a collective labor agreement in force. An employer who is not obliged to introduce work regulations may introduce them, unless there is no collective labor agreement in place at the workplace, in which case the employer does not have such competence.
Pursuant to Art. 1042 § 1 of the Labor Code, work regulations are adopted by the employer after consultation with the company’s trade union. If the employer does not operate the indicated organization or the organization has not agreed on the wording of the regulations within the prescribed period, the employer adopts the work regulations itself. If the parties have not agreed on the deadline, it is 30 days from the date of submission of the draft regulations of the trade union organization.
If there are several trade union organizations operating at the employer, the method of adopting the work regulations depends on whether the organizations have joint trade union representation. In the case of a positive answer, the employer is to cooperate with it as if it were one organization. If the trade union organizations do not have a joint representation, the organizations should present the employer with an agreed position within 30 days of the submission of the draft regulations. If they fail to comply with this obligation, the employer determines the work regulations himself.
The Labor Code contains a non-exhaustive catalog of issues that should be regulated by work regulations. These are:
- organization of work, conditions of staying on the premises of the workplace during and after work;
- equipping employees with tools and materials, as well as work clothing and footwear, as well as personal protection and personal hygiene equipment;
- working time systems and schedules as well as accepted working time accounting periods;
- duration of night time;
- date, place, time and frequency of payment of remuneration;
- lists of jobs prohibited to young workers and women;
- types of work and a list of work positions allowed for juvenile workers for vocational training;
- a list of light work allowed for juvenile workers employed for purposes other than vocational training;
- obligations regarding occupational health and safety and fire protection, including the method of informing employees about the occupational risk associated with their work;
- the employer’s method of confirming the arrival and presence at work and justifying absences from work.
According to Art. 772 § 1 of the Labor Code, the employer is obliged to specify the conditions of remuneration for work in the remuneration regulations, if at least 50 employees are not covered by an enterprise or supra-enterprise collective agreement. As in the case of work regulations, an employer employing fewer than 50, but at least 20 employees, who are not covered by an enterprise or supra-enterprise collective agreement, is obliged to introduce remuneration regulations, if such a request is made by an enterprise trade union. Employers who are not obliged to adopt the remuneration regulations may adopt them if their employees are not covered by the company or multi-enterprise collective bargaining agreement setting out the terms of remuneration for work and the granting of other work-related benefits to the extent and in a manner that allows determining, on its basis, individual terms and conditions of employment contracts. work. It can also specify other work-related benefits, such as severance pay, and the rules for granting them.
The remuneration regulations are set by the employer. However, if an enterprise trade union operates at the employer, the employer is obliged to agree the content of the regulations with it.
The Remuneration Regulations come into force two weeks after the date of its announcement. It may take the form of posting the regulations on the notice board or posting them in the internal network of the workplace. The remuneration regulations are in force until the employees are covered by an enterprise collective labor agreement or an inter-enterprise collective labor agreement setting out the conditions of remuneration for work and granting other work-related benefits to the extent and in a manner that allows defining individual terms and conditions of employment contracts.
Prepared on the basis of: K. Jaśkowski, E. Maniewska, Labor Code. Updated commentary, Warsaw 2023