Trade union activists are exposed to unfavorable treatment by the employer, as they represent the interests of employees, which are often in conflict with the interests of the employer, and therefore they are subject to special protection.
As indicated by Art. 32 sec. 1 of the Act on trade unions, without the consent of the management board of a company trade union organization, the employer may not terminate or terminate the legal relationship with a member of the management board indicated by a resolution of the trade union organization or with another person performing paid work who is a member of a given company trade organization, authorized to represent this organization towards the employer or the body or a person who performs actions for the employer in matters of labor law, or unilaterally change the working conditions or remuneration to the disadvantage of such a person. This means that the indicated person does not have to be an employee within the meaning of the Labor Code – such protection may also be provided to a person employed under a civil law contract. However, he must be a member of the management board of a company trade union organization or be otherwise authorized to represent the company trade union organization towards the employer, while being a member of the said trade union organization. The application of this provision is excluded in the event of the employer’s liquidation or bankruptcy. Protection is granted for the period specified in the resolution, increased by half, but not longer than one year after the expiry of the period specified in the resolution of the management board of the trade union organization. In the absence of resolutions on the protection of members of the organization, protection is vested in the chairperson of the trade union organization by law.
The management board of an enterprise trade union organization has 14 working days to resign, counted from the date of submission by the employer of a written notification of the intention to terminate or unilaterally change the legal relationship, specifying the reason justifying the termination or unilateral change of the legal relationship, and 7 working days from the date of submission by the employer of the written notification about the intention to terminate the legal relationship, stating the reason justifying its termination. The lack of the Management Board’s response, either by expressing consent or by refusing to express it, within the indicated period shall be treated as consent.
The management board of an enterprise trade union organization is obliged to present a list of names of persons covered by protection along with its duration. In the case of changes, you must inform your employer of this fact within 7 days of the change.
The list may not exceed the number of persons constituting the employer’s managerial staff or the number determined on the basis of the size of the enterprise trade union organization. If it has up to 20 members employed by a given employer, it may nominate 2 persons, and above this value 2 persons and:
- one person for every 10 members of this organization employed by the employer, ranging from 21 to 50 of these members
- one person for every 20 members of this organization employed by the employer, in the range of 51 to 150 of these members
- one person for every 30 members of this organization employed by the employer, ranging from 151 to 300 of these members
- one person for every 40 members of this organization employed by the employer, in the range of 301 to 500 of these members
- one person for every 50 members of this organization employed by the employer, in the range above 500 of these members.
In addition, the protection described in the second paragraph is also available to up to 3 persons indicated by the resolution of the founding committee of the company trade union organization for 6 months from the date of establishing the founding committee. If no one is indicated by the resolution, the protection is granted to the chairman of the founding committee.
This protection also applies to a person holding an elected trade union function outside the company trade union organization, who is on unpaid leave or exemption from the obligation to perform work at the employer’s, within the period of the said leave or exemption and for a year after its completion. In such a case, consent to protection is granted by the statutory body of the trade union organization in which the person performs or has performed this function.