Pursuant to Art. 30 par. 1 of the Act of June 26, 1974, the Labor Code (consolidated text: Journal of Laws of 2022, item 1510 – hereinafter: the Labor Code), the employment contract may be terminated in four ways. First, it happens by agreement of the parties. Another form of termination of this contract is the declaration of one of the parties (the employer or the employee) with the simultaneous observance of the notice period – this method is defined by the legislator as „termination of an employment contract with notice”. The third method is the submission of a declaration by one of the parties without notice, i.e. termination of the employment contract without notice. The last of the variants listed in the Code of Passage is the expiry of the period for which the employment contract was concluded.
At this point, it is worth taking a look at the second of the distinguished ways. The most important here is the practical dimension of the rules for calculating the notice periods. Under the Labor Code, the legislator regulates the period of time that must elapse from the termination of the contract to the termination (termination) of the employment relationship. According to Art. 36 par. 1 notice period for an employment contract concluded for an indefinite period and an employment contract concluded for a definite period is determined by the period of employment with a given employer. The Code regulation provides for: 2 weeks, if the employee has been employed for less than 6 months; 1 month if the employee has been employed for at least 6 months and 3 months if the employee has been employed for at least 3 years.
The legislator provides a separate treatment for the notice period for an employment contract in the case of a contract concluded for a trial period. Art. 34 of the Criminal Code sets for the parties: 3 working days if the trial period does not exceed 2 weeks; 1 week if the trial period is longer than 2 weeks and 2 weeks if the trial period is 3 months.
In practice, the method of calculating the above terms is of the greatest importance. When referring to the time limits set in months, it should be noted that the starting point for the termination notice period is the first calendar day of the month following the month in which the termination notice was submitted. The notice period therefore ends on the last day of the month. It should be remembered that for the method of calculating the monthly period, it will not matter whether the month has 28, 29, 30 or 31 days (the termination date is simply the last day of the month).
As for the method of calculating the periods specified in weeks, the starting point for the termination of the employment contract is the first Sunday following the date of submitting the notice of termination; Saturday is always the last day of the notice period.
Finally, it is also worth considering the rules for converting terms expressed in days. The first day of termination is the business day following the delivery of the termination notice. It should be emphasized, however, that when determining the moment at which the notice period counted in working days begins, working days are taken into account, i.e. all days except Sundays and public holidays, also days off from work.
For example:
- Termination of an employment contract for an employee working for 7 months will be charged as follows: the notice was given to the employee on March 25, therefore, for a period of at least 6 months, the monthly term will start on April 1 and will end on the last day the month of April (i.e. April 30).
- Termination of an employment contract for an employee working for 4 months will be charged as follows: the notice was given to the employee on April 1 (Friday), therefore, for a period of work lasting less than 6 months, the 2-week period will start on Sunday, April 3 and will end on Saturday 16 April.
- Termination of an employment contract for an employee working on a trial period for 1 week will be charged as follows: the termination notice was given to the employee on May 4 (Monday), therefore the 3-day period, provided for a trial period not lasting longer than 2 weeks, will start on May on Tuesday and will end on May 7 (Thursday).