The labour law in Poland is in a phase of deep transformation, and the direction of change is not obvious. The increasing impact of EU law, social change, the improvement of fresh technologies and the fragmentation of forms of employment make it increasingly hard to talk of a "single Labour Code". These are the main conclusions of the conference devoted to the 50th anniversary of the Labour Code held on 17 October 2025 in Wrocław at the Training Centre of the State Labour Inspection. What else did the participating professors, experts, officials and practitioners discuss?
According to prof. Walerian Sanetra (University of Białystok, president of the ultimate Court in Retired State), Polish labour law is present under strong influence of the European Union – and that is what EU law mostly shapes. 34 directives have already been implemented in the Labour Code and the standards imposed by the Union are clearly higher than those in force at the time of the PRL. This is simply a direction that can be assessed positively.
But there's a problem. – EU law is point-based and is constantly changing. Under these conditions, it is hard to plan a comprehensive improvement of the Labour Code, because, before we can pass something, we request to make further amendments.
There is besides a political factor. prof. emphasized that the destiny of laws in Poland frequently depends on organization calculations – whether the recipe will aid or harm the elections.
This is why the erstwhile 2 attempts to amend the Code failed. Trade unions besides stood in the way, who were reluctant to look at reforms that could strengthen another forms of worker representation.
As a result, it is hard to anticipate a thorough change to the Code in the close future. As prof. Sanetra put it – It is simply a building with a very strong foundation, but with multiple built and patched walls. It inactive works, but it has already lost coherence and aesthetics.
New employment models, old protection instruments
Łukasz Paroń, manager of the State Labour Inspection Training Centre, made an even more clear diagnosis:
in today's labour law we have besides much chaos and not adequate cohesion, the Labour Code itself is experiencing a major identity crisis today.
On the 1 hand, it adds fresh rules (e.g. on distant work, parenting, transparency of wages), on the another hand it does not keep up with how we truly work today.
Although the Labour Code is based on employment relations, in practice it is besides increasingly entering another forms of employment: contract contracts, platform model, internships, B2B. Nevertheless, many of these forms are outside the full scope of Codex Protection, and this in turn does not let workers to be protected coherently and creates inequalities which the legislator does not keep up with. So if we want to build a modern labour law system, we request to decision distant from reasoning in terms of the Labour Code alone. The worker present is not just a individual with a contract of employment, but anyone who keeps his occupation to himself and his family. And that's him. – not the form of the contract – We should protect.
Is there inactive area for codification of labour law?
The last speech belonged to Dr. Krzysztof Walczak (prof. of the University of Warsaw) and made it clear: the full improvement of the Labour Code does not seem real today. The labour marketplace is besides diverse, the regulation besides dispersed, and the code itself besides rigid to keep up with changing realities.
Instead, the expert proposed a modular approach: a set of general rules, supplemented by regulations for circumstantial sectors: administration, education or digital platforms, and, as he powerfully stressed, a stronger function for collective agreements.
His speech called for a change of perspective: we may not request a fresh Labour Code, but a fresh way of reasoning about employment.
What next: Code or Dialogue?
The Labour Code was passed in 1974, at a time erstwhile factories dominated and employment was 1 clear form. Today, reality looks different. We are dealing with digital transformation, the increasing function of customized work and a completely different position of the young generation on the relation with the employer.
However, there was a common intuition in the room: a code – as a symbol and guarantor of labour rights – He should stay. But his present form requires a thoughtful transformation. Not a extremist breakup, but a profound reassessment.
In the face of so many challenges, 1 thing was certain: it cannot be done without social dialogue. Only a conversation between the legislator, employers, workers and social organisations will answer the fundamental question: in which country do we want to live and work?
This is why social dialog has been identified by many speakers as the most crucial tool of the future. Not a fresh code, not a fresh bill, but a fresh quality of conversation.
It is in it that there is the possible to make a framework to keep up with change. Maybe... Even outrun her.
