Councils of employees in Poland disappear. They can be saved by a fast amendment of the bill

instytutsprawobywatelskich.pl 8 months ago

Without changing the existing regulations of the worker council, they will vanish from the Polish legal order within a fewer years. We estimation that at the end of 2024 the number of staff councils operating in Poland fell below 400. In 2010, there were over 3,000.

Our conclusions are based on statistical data from the kept registry of worker councils, which has the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy and conducted by the Institute of civilian Affairs advice, training and cyclically organized National Forum of Workers' Councils (we know about the existence of councils which employers have not submitted to the Ministry).

The first worker councils were selected in Poland in May 2006. In May 2010, the number of councils created and operating exceeded 3000, and around 2016 we reached the staff council No. 3,500.

The Council of Workers is an intra-company body with employers of 50 employees, who were given the Act of 7 April 2006 on informing and consulting employees. This government implements the guidelines of the European Parliament and of the Council: 2002/14/EC of 11 March 2002 (hereinafter ‘Directive 2002/14/EC’) establishing a general framework for information and consultation of workers in the European Community.

The reason for the drastic decrease in the number of worker councils is due to the provisions contained in the Act.

The main work is to collect signatures of 10% of employees employed by the employer.

People who sign their name may be exposed to harassment from the company's board. Not all CEOs want consultation with employees. And collecting signatures of 10 percent of the crew, e.g. in companies employing respective 100 people, is simply a challenge that frequently exceeds the capabilities of private workers. For comparison, the trade union can already appoint 10 employees of a given company.

Another obstacle is to organise the election of members of the council, which – attention – announces the employer.

Time (highest) to amend the Act

Recital 2 of Directive 2002/14/EC refers to point 17 of the Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers, which states, inter alia, that information, consultation and participation of workers must be developed in the European Community. The failure of over 3000 worker councils shows that Poland does not meet this requirement.

Why is EU government so powerfully promoting information and consultation with worker representatives?

In addition Article 27 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union providesthat ‘Workers and their representatives should be guaranteed, at appropriate levels, information and consultation in good time, in cases and under the conditions provided for in Union law and national government and practices’1 and thus appropriate worker participation should be understood.

Further failure to comply with Directive 2002/14/EC and the appropriate participation of employees in the functioning of Polish companies can be met by the European Commission to draw legal and financial consequences against Poland (the European Commission has the chance to mention the complaint to the Court of Justice of the European Union, which further leads to the imposition of financial penalties).

What is the staff council and why is it needed in your company?

The members of the Board shall be those elected for a word of 4 years by all employees employed by the employer concerned. The staff council is an opinion-consultative body, it is not a separate legal entity, it has no legal personality. As an interior body, the employer should have his understanding, acceptance and trust.

Unfortunately, the past of 18 years of experience, advice and training for councils of employees from all over Poland, conducted by the Centre for the Support of Councils of Workers of the Institute of civilian Affairs shows that the culture of dialog and democratisation of the workplace has not developed in Poland. Employers, in the majority, without circumstantial and clear statutory requirements, are not curious in developing cooperation with worker councils.

What could worker participation in Poland look like?

The most crucial good business is its employees. Dedicated, competent and committed make a working atmosphere that translates indirectly and in many respects straight into the company's performance and its image on the market.

With the improvement of the company, expanding employment and vertical structures, the staff council is simply a essential component of participation, worker participation. Cooperation between the company's management and the worker board improves communication to employees, but also, above all, communication collected from employees to the board.

Enhancing worker subjectivity is an increase in occupation satisfaction and an increase in sense of work. Thanks to the management board, the company can learn about the real moods of employees, their needs and improvement opportunities for the company. The well-functioning advice of employees is yet social peace. Informed, aware of the economical situation of the company, the workers heard do not feel the request to protest or strike. Problems can be dealt with through the interior dialog of the board of employees and the employer.

In order to give the above imagination an opportunity, changes to the Act on informing and consulting employees are necessary.

Recommendations of the civilian Affairs Institute

I will present a subjective list of the most crucial assumptions of the amendment prepared by the squad of the Institute of civilian Affairs.

  1. The establishment of a staff council will be compulsory for each employer performing economical activity and employing at least 50 employees.

In practice, this means the end of the request to collect signatures of 10% of all employees employed by the employer afraid for the first or subsequent word of office of the staff council. The election process will begin within a maximum of 6 months of the entry into force of the amendment of the Act.

The absence of an urgent amendment of the Act, in peculiar in the above-mentioned aspect, will lead to complete marginalisation in the next fewer years and possibly even the liquidation of councils of employees in Poland. The Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy has information about the appointments submitted by employers (first or subsequent) about 300 worker councils over the last 4 years.

The main liable for specified a immense decrease in the number of worker councils (let me remind you that there were over 3000 councils operating in 2010) is the request to collect 10% of employees' own signatures.

  1. Introduction of the rule that the staff council shall operate until the first gathering of the recently elected staff council.

We frequently learned from the staff councils that their four-year word of office had expired, and the employer did not inform the staff about the anticipation of collecting signatures under the request to hold the election of the next council term. Alternatively, the employer postponed the first staff council gathering for respective months and the recently elected staff council could not start work and the employer did not gotta consult or inform her.

  1. Clarification in the amendment of the list of cases on which information from the employer is available to the staff council. Introduction of a definition of legal "information" to the council. The employees' councils will receive a clear right to papers from the employer relating to the cases in question with the indicated statutory deadline and the right and work to supply information to the employees. The employer will be obliged to justify in writing the refusal to supply information to the board.

In practice, the rules will yet be precise:

information – forwarding data to the board of staff and papers on matters relating to the employer enabling them to get acquainted with the case and examine it."

The employer shall supply information within 7 days of the date of request for information, in written or electronic form and to the full degree possible for the staff board to consult the case.’

The staff council has a work provide information received from the employer to employees, excluding confidential information’.

Refusal information shall be provided to the staff board within 7 days from the date of the request for information and includes the written justification of the employerIt’s okay. ”

Real is the right of the worker council to get informationfrom your employer. The provisions of the Act will not be fictional, there is simply a large request on the part of staff councils to end the practice of not giving employers any information or negative answers without giving a reason for refusal.

  1. The introduction of an work by the employer in consultation with the staff council of the yearly budget setting out the expenses of the council and the selection of experts of the board with expertise will be carried out by the staff board.

With this provision, the staff council will be given a real tool to make competences and become a professional partner for the employer.

The wording of the fresh rules is clear:

The choice of aid providers is up to the staff council and is done in a way that prevents the employer from influencing the choice’.

Employer establish the yearly budget in consultation with the staff council determining the expenses of the Council.’

  1. Members of the staff councils will be given the chance to fulfil their duties as a associate of the staff council during working hours with the right to pay, and candidates in the election of a associate of the board will receive protection of the employment relation in the same way as those provided for in the Trade Unions Act.

Relevant provisions of our amendment:

Employee A associate of the staff council shall have the right to be dismissed from his/her work, in connection with his/her participation in his/her work, including training, with the right to pay, for the time essential to participate in the work of the staff council., which may not be performed outside working hours where it does not benefit from an exemption from another title, calculated in accordance with the rules on dismissal under the Law on trade unions of a associate of the cooperative board of a union organisation.’

Paragraphs 1 and 2 apply to candidates for board members from the date of application of the candidacy up to 6 months from the date on which the election consequence was announced by the election committee’, Article 17 of the Act on protection of employment relations.

The fresh rules will align any of the members of the staff councils with the eligible members of the union organisation's company boards or the designated members of the union organisation's founding committee.

The fresh powers are consistent with the changes made to the functioning of the staff councils and to the beginning of elections to them.

Without members of the staff council, there would be no chance of elections. Without ensuring a minimum protection of the employment relation for the candidates submitted, there is simply a hazard of deficiency of candidates, which would exclude the sense of the amendments.

  1. The amendment besides includes a number of changes that clarify and complement the main assumptions discussed above. We want to make it easier to collect support signatures for candidates (5 and 10 signatures alternatively of 10 and 20 signatures respectively). We indicate the rules for holding elections, supplementary elections, the appointment of an election committee, the anticipation of appointing in place of members of the council who have lost their mandate, subsequent candidates on the list of candidates who have not obtained the mandate.

All of these changes aim to clarify the rules, facilitate the electoral process for staff council candidates and let the effective conduct of the staff council by its members for the benefit of employees and employers.

  1. The last change, nevertheless crucial for us, is to rise awareness of the existence of worker councils and give them appropriate meaning. We propose an amendment to the title of the bill, which will read:

on staff councils, information and consultation of staff".

Justification and social impact of the amendment of the Staff Information and Consultation Act.

Finally, there must be a passage of our justification for the social impact that we anticipate to trigger the amendment of the Act.:

The task will have a affirmative social impact. A crucial increase in the number of worker councils will consequence in an increase in worker participation in the decision-making process concerning the functioning of workplaces. The competence of workers in economical and social matters concerning the functioning of large economical operators will be strengthened. Workers' opinions will indirectly influence employers' decisions from the point of view of society as a whole. Labour integration at the workplace level, but besides at the public level, will increase."

What I and all Our Readers wish!

Feel free to research with the full draft amendment on information and consultation of employees, together with a justification.

The task was prepared as part of the improvement of the Centre for the Support of Councils of Workers co-financed by the National Institute of Freedom Centre for the improvement of civilian Society under the Government Programme for the improvement of Advisory Organisations for the period 2022–2033.

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