Pregnant women are the group that enjoys a higher level of protection than pre-retirement workers.
Pursuant to Art. 177 § 1 of the Labor Code, the employer may not terminate such an employee or terminate the employment relationship with her, unless there are grounds for termination of the employment contract pursuant to Art. 52 of the Labor Code, i.e. through the fault of the employee, and at the same time the trade union organization representing the employee will agree to terminate the employment relationship. However, the protection resulting from the aforementioned provision is not granted to workers employed for a trial period not exceeding one month. As indicated in Art. 177 § 3 of the Labor Code, an employment contract concluded for a definite period or for a trial period exceeding one month, which would be terminated after the third month of pregnancy, is extended until the day of childbirth, but this provision does not apply to contracts for replacement during justified absence worker’s. Interestingly, the Supreme Court in the judgment No. I PK 33/02 ruled that for the purposes of the above-mentioned provision, the expiry of the 3-month period is calculated according to the lunar months of 28 days each.
An employment contract may be terminated with notice in the event of the employer’s bankruptcy or liquidation, however, the employer is obliged to agree with the trade union organization representing the employee on the date of termination of the employment contract. If it is not possible to provide the employee with other employment during this period, she is entitled to rights for this period, and the time of collecting them is included in the period of employment from which the employee is entitled to rights.
Limiting the possibility of terminating an employment contract with pregnant employees is not the only legally prescribed method of their protection. Pursuant to Art. 178 § 1, such a worker may not be employed overtime or at night, and in addition, without her consent, she may not be delegated outside of her permanent place of work or employed in the system of interrupted working time.
In addition, an employer hiring a night worker is required to change her work schedule so that she can work outside the night time, and if it is impossible or pointless, transfer her to tasks that do not require night work. If this also proves impossible, the employer must release the employee from the obligation to work for the necessary time.
The situation is similar in the case of pregnant employees performing burdensome, dangerous or harmful work – the list of these works is included in the Regulation of the Council of Ministers of April 3, 2017 on the list of burdensome, dangerous or harmful work for pregnant women and women. breastfeeding baby. If this work is forbidden regardless of the degree of exposure to factors harmful to health or dangerous, he is obliged to transfer the employee to another job, and if it is not of such a nature, the employer should first adjust the working conditions or limit the working time in order to eliminate the risk. for the health or safety of employees, and if this is impracticable – transfer the employee to another job. If this is impossible, the employer must release the employee from the obligation to work for the necessary time.