Tag: wypowiedzenie umowy

Deadline for termination due to employee’s fault?

In accordance with art. 52 § 2 of the Labor Code in Poland, 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.

According to the cited provision, the employer has one month to make a decision on dismissal. Thus, in the fifth week of the incident, the employer cannot terminate the contract on the employee’s fault. If such termination occurs, however, the employee’s claims against the employer will be updated.

Since when do we count the 1 month deadline? This time limit begins to run from the day on which the person authorized to terminate the employment contract or another person belonging – in the light of the organizational chart – to the management of the workplace receives information about such conduct of the employee.

In other words, the term specified in art. 52 § 2 of the Labor Code in Poland did not start running if another employee who was not authorized to terminate the employment contract learned about the circumstances justifying the termination of the employment contract. By the phrase “obtaining by the workplace information” should be understood messages sufficiently tested so that the manager of the workplace can gain a reasonable belief about the wrongdoing of the employee. This may require checking and hearing the employee being charged.

Therefore, if the employer checks the received information immediately and efficiently, in such a situation the deadline should be calculated from the moment of completing the internal verification procedure, verifying the information obtained by the employer about the employee’s behavior.

KSJ Legal Law Firm has extensive experience in matters of labor law, including those regarding unjustified or fictitious termination of the employment contract. We advise at every stage of the proceedings, from the preparation of a legal opinion to obtaining a final decision before the court of second instance.

Labour Lawyer Joanna Susło

KJS Legal Law Firm in Wrocław

Tel. 668-841-990

[email protected]

Advocate – Wrocław – KJS Legal – Lawyer

Net or gross remuneration?

One of the most important elements of any employment contract is the correct determination of remuneration and its components. The Labor Code does not use the terms gross / net remuneration. These concepts have evolved into practice, while in a possible dispute between an employer and employee they should be considered “colloquial”.

Our clients often ask lawyers how the remuneration should be specified in the employment contract. Should they be marked as gross remuneration (so-called pre-deduction) or net (so-called remuneration on hand)?

The correct answer to this question is gross remuneration, because it is the amount of remuneration from which the employer will deduct the public benefits due (social security and health insurance contributions as well as an advance on personal income tax). The gross amount should also be indicated in a court dispute against the employer for payment, e.g. remuneration for overtime or night hours, as well as in a case regarding the establishment of an employment relationship.

Such a position was approved by the Supreme Court, which in one of its judgments indicated that remuneration for work, as an indispensable element of the employment relationship (Article 22 § 1 of the Labor Code), is a concept defined by labor law. It clearly follows from these provisions that remuneration for work is due to the employee, constituting the whole also including the part which the employer may (is obliged to) deduct (deduct) from. Therefore, it is not possible to construct a definition of remuneration for work in which the part of remuneration due to the employee due (net remuneration) and the part which the employee is not entitled to stand out. The remuneration for work is due to the employee in full and such remuneration is determined by the content of the employment relationship, so in such amount it should be awarded in a court dispute between the parties to the employment relationship. The concept of “gross” remuneration does not appear in the labor law at all and is rather colloquial. Labor law uses only the concept of remuneration for work as such. The notion of “net” remuneration, which should be understood as part of the remuneration for work paid to the employee, is only colloquial, but only if the employer makes appropriate deductions under other legal provisions. (see resolution of the Supreme Court of August 7, 2001, reference number III ZP 13/01).

The position presented above has very important consequences for the employee – if the parties indicated a certain amount of remuneration in the employment contract without specifying whether it is gross or net remuneration (or the contract was concluded orally), it is always assumed that it is remuneration gross.

KSJ Legal Law Firm successfully represents employees before labor courts. We advise at every stage of the proceeding, starting from an attempt to resolve the case amicably to obtaining a final decision and execution before law enforcement authorities.

Attorney-at-law Joanna Susło

KJS Legal Kancelaria Adwokacka – Law firm in Wrocław

Tel. 668-841-990

[email protected]

Advocate – Wrocław – Labour Law in Poland