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Labour law
Signing of Labour Code amendment on relaxation of prohibition to Sundays’ and public holidays work ban
On 10 February 2014 President of the Republic of Poland signed a Labour Code amendment extending catalogue of works to be allowed on Sundays and public holidays. The amendment concerned is aimed at liberalization of work time for employees performing jobs at service centres in favour of foreign entities.
According to the provisions of the amendment, an employer may also order an employee to work on Sundays and public holidays where the services are:
• provided with use of electronic communication means within the meaning of the Act of 18 July 2002 on providing services via electronic means (uniform text: Polish Journal of Laws of 2013, item 1422), or via telecommunication devices within the meaning of the Act of 16 July 2004 on telecommunication law (Polish Journal of laws of 2004, No. 171, item 1800, as amended),
• received out of the territory of Poland.
Current labour law regulations contained no permit to work on Sundays and public holidays in favour of foreign entities active in markets all over the world, where different holiday calendars and time zones apply.
The employer is obliged to compensate the employee for working on Sundays and public holidays by granting a day-off during 6 calendar days preceding or following the Sunday during which the employee worked or during an accounting period for working during a public holiday.
Labour Code’s amendment does not change the applicable rule pursuant to which an employee working on Sundays should enjoy a Sunday-off not less than once every 4 weeks. The Act shall enter into force after 14 days upon its publishing in the Polish Journal of Laws.
According to the amendment’s initiators, implementation thereof is amied not only at maintaining current jobs in the business services sector, but also creating new ones and improvement of the Polish labour market within this area.
Commercial law
Resolution by Supreme Court of 30 January 2014, case No. III CZP 104/13
The Supreme Court issued a resolution stating that a claim of a member of supervisory board of a joint-stock company for outstanding remuneration is not subjected to limitation of two years. According to the resolution, in such situation general limitation rules, as provided in Art. 118 of the Civil Code, apply. This means that a supervisory board member may claim outstanding remuneration from the company within longer term than two years. Hence, limitation period equals to 3 or 10 years, however SN did not indicate which period must be applied.
Justifying the resolution the judges stated that relation between supervisory board member and the joint-stock company “is not contractual but corporate relation" therefore general law provisions should apply. In the judges’ opinion there is no grounds for application of specific provision the company has referred to.
Public procurement law
Works on the new Act on Public Procurement Law
The Sejm [lower chamber of the Polish Parliament] is also working on another draft amendment to the Public Procurement Law. Pursuant thereto the „triviality threshold” above which procedures provided in the public procurement law are to be applied has been raised. Nowadays bids have been called in respect to all purchases of value exceeding EUR 14 thousand, which causes a research slowdown in science sector. According to the amendment, threshold for public procurements regarding all entities has been raised up to EUR 30 thousand, for scientific institutes – up to EUR 130 thousand, and for higher education institutions – EUR 200 thousand.
Moreover, amended provisions are to facilitate planning and valuation of procurement at higher education institutions with very highly extended structure. Also, an opportunity for single-source contract for purchase of items produced only for research, experiments, scientific or developmental works has been provided, which are not aimed by an ordering party at serial production with the purpose to achieve commercial profitability or to cover research or development costs. Also, an opportunity for ordering of equipment produced only by one producer under single-source contract has been proposed.
Resolution by the Supreme Court, III CZP 90/13
On 7 February 2014 the Supreme Court decided that in order to keep the deadline for appeal against a tenderee’s decision on public contract, date of sending the appeal via post should not be taken into consideration – the appeal must be delivered to the addressee within indicated term. The resolution covers also situations where very short, five day deadline, is provided.
Consumers law
An interesting Supreme Administrative Court’s ruling on a fake advertisement of a product,
II OSK 1954/12
On 22 January 2014 the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that it was not permitted to present a product’s false composition in commercial leaflets and the Internet. In the SAC’s opinion, such advertisement misleads the consumer by suggesting different than actual composition.
The Court stated that the entrepreneur should remove leaflets and presentations of the product from the Internet because information contained therein mislead consumers. The entrepreneur has been selling a drink containing extract from coca leaves, while it was promoted via leaflets and internet as the “drink of coca leaves”.
In the judgment’s justification the judges pointed to correct position of the lower instance court ordering removing of leaflets and the product presentations from the Web page due to misleading character of information contained therein.
The Supreme Court’s resolution of 7 February 2014, III CZP 113/13
The Supreme Court decided that where a passenger demands from an air carrier for delayed flight, under the Community Regulation 261/2004 establishing common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding and of cancellation or long delay of flights, legal actions may be taken alternatively before courts of law or before the President of the Civil Aviation Office. That means that in regards to such damages consumers have an open way to take actions before courts of law
LABOR CODE
KKS LEGAL have the pleasure to announce the recent publication of the first bilingual version in Polish and French of the Polish Labor Code with the Act on special principles for terminating employment with employees for reasons not attributable to employees, prepared by the editor C.H.Beck in cooperation with our law office and with our French colleagues from Lmt Avocats law office based in Paris, both members of the international network PANNONE LAW GROUP. For several years, KKS Legal has provided complex legal assistance to French investors in Poland, both in the phase of setting their businesses and further on, in the every-day business issues. By translating the Polish Labor Code into French, we wanted to contribute to better understanding of the Polish labor law by the French investors in Poland, but also by the French-speaking employees working in Poland, thus facilitating their legal relationships.
KKS LEGAL associated in the Pannone Law Group (PLG).
KKS LEGAL associated in the Pannone Law Group to which our Office belongs was held in London from June 7 to 11. The meeting was organized by Pritchard Englefield Law Office. The working session covered, among others, the institution of trust in a number of law systems, electronic documents as proofs in legal proceedings, and the consequences of transfer of a workplace to another employer. During the informal section of the event, we all took part in an official dinner combined with the performance of string musicians, organized by one of the partners of Pritchard Englefield Law Office.
Labor law
Entry into effect of the Labor Code amendment pertaining to work on Sundays and public holidays
The amended Labor Code pertaining to work on Sundays and public holidays, such as we referred to in our previous Newsletter, has entered into effect on March 4, 2014.
Judgment of the Polish Constitutional Tribunal dated February 25, 2014
The Polish Constitutional Tribunal considered that losing the entitlement to sickness benefit in case of remunerated work, even if such work is done on a minimum time basis, and whatever the purpose of such work, was in line with the Polish Constitution.
In the judgment dated February 25, 2014, the Constitutional Tribunal awarded that art. 17 par. 1 of the Act on subsidiary payments made by the Social Insurance in case of sickness and maternity, dated June 25, 1999, and to the extent that it constitutes grounds for loss of entitlement to sickness benefit for insured persons who did a remunerated work while on sickness leave and whose remuneration for such work was higher than the minimum official salary, was compliant with art. 67 par. 1 read with art. 64 par. 1 and 2, art. 31 par. 3 and art. 2 of the Polish Constitution. The Constitutional Tribunal indicated in the said judgment that it was constitutionally unjustified to make the whole society pay for subsistence of an employee who, despite being on a sickness leave, works and therefore makes profits, whatever the type of such work.
Business law
Decision of the Supreme Court dated February 26, 2014 (No III CZP 103/13) – powers of attorney to represent a foreign entrepreneur
In the decision dated February 26, 2014 (No III CZP 103/13), the Supreme Court ascertained that a person entitled to represent the foreign entrepreneur within the branch of said entrepreneur, whose name was filed with the National Court Register (art. 87 of the Act on Freedom of Business Activity dated July 2, 2004 – consolidated version published in Journal of Laws of 2013, item 672, further amended), may grant a power of attorney to a third person for the purpose of representing the said foreign entrepreneur in court in matters connected with the activity of this branch office.
Procedural law
Entry into effect of the Civil Procedure Code amendment pertaining to seal of enforceability
This amendment is due to sort out the issues connected with the enforceability seal granted to certain enforcement titles. Its principal aim was to decide how the enforceability clause was to be granted in court, and what was the form of the required court decision supposed to be.
This amendment clearly authorizes a simplified form of granting the enforceability seal (art. 783 § 3 and 4 of the amended Code of Civil Procedure), on assumption that any proceedings connected with granting the enforceability should tend to further simplification of acts of justice.
This amendment shall enter into effect on April 10, 2014.
NEWSLETTER II/2014
LABOR CODE
KKS LEGAL IN THE PLG
NEWSLETTER III/2014
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