In the night from 28 to 29 March Poland will go back from winter to summertime time. At 2:00 a.m., the clues will should be moved to 3:00 a.m., so tonight we'll be sleeping at little hours. All points to the fact that this will not be the last change in time, although for many years it has been said that it has been removed.
Both the Polish rules set out by the end of 2026 and the EU directive proceed to apply, and work on moving distant from seasonal shifts of watches has not been completed for years. The date is not due to conjecture or calendar tradition, but to the current regulation of the Prime Minister of 4 March 2022.
Although the subject returns almost all six months, nothing has formally resolved to remove the change in time. Directive 2000/84/EC continues to apply at EU level, which requires associate States to decision on summertime time on the last Sunday of March and return to winter time on the last Sunday of October.
The European Commission recalls that the European Parliament supported the end of seasonal time changes as early as 2019, but the EU Council has inactive not reached its final position, so the proposal has not come into force.
This condition of suspension is besides confirmed by the Main measurement Office. The Authority recalls that in October 2021, the EC published a communication on time changes for the period 2022-2026 and obliged the associate States to prepare rules to proceed the existing rules. The GUM states explicitly that there is inactive no clear position among the EU countries either to quit the changes in time itself or to choose 1 permanent option of time.
This means that the March change of time will not be the last for one, prosaic reason: already the current government besides includes the autumn change of 25 October 2026. The possible end of the full strategy can only be discussed if the fresh government is agreed jointly between EU countries and the European Parliament. There is no specified decision for today.
There's a task in the Sejm, but it doesn't change the legal state.
Politically, the subject has not disappeared. In the Sejm there is simply a parliamentary draft bill, which assumes a departure from the current practice of changing time and taking permanent Central European summertime time as an authoritative time in Poland. However, according to the parliamentary course of work, the task was aimed at first reading in the Committee on economical Affairs and Development, and according to the parliamentary position of early March 2026 it has not yet moved to the next stages of the legislative procedure.
For today, however, the task remains only a project. It does not repeal national regulations or EU rules. Even if work in the Sejm accelerated, the substance would proceed to collide with existing EU regulations, which inactive keep a common mechanics for seasonal change for the full of the Union.
What about the wage if individual works at night from 28 to 29 March?
The State Labour Inspectorate explains that there is no provision that explicitly regulates the accounting of time shift work, but in practice the application of the rules of Article 81 of the Labour Code is adopted.
Due to the shift of the clock, an worker is entitled to a downtime wage if he was ready to work but could not execute it for reasons beyond his control. In the case of a fixed monthly rate, this does not mean a simplification in the basic salary. Similarly, the worker retains the right to pay for the hour.
However, there is 1 crucial catch. The PIP notes that the night work allowance is only due for hours actually worked. So if the night shift is reduced by 1 hr due to the shift of the clock from 2:00 to 3:00, the worker will get a lower night shift, due to the fact that in fact he will work little hours. The inspection besides stresses that, in the absence of rules to resolve these issues explicitly, it is up to the labour court to decide the final result in the event of a dispute.
This means a simple division. The basic wage should not be cut simply due to the fact that the administrative night will shorten by an hour. However, part of the allowances counted only from the actual time worked may look different. This is why the night of the change of time is more troublesome for HR and pay departments than for most people who just sleep an hr less.
Why does the subject keep coming back erstwhile there's no decision?
The problem is not just about comfort or habits. The GUM regularly publishes reports on the effects of winter and summertime time, including health, rhythm of the day, road safety, organisation of work and operation of transport.
The materials feature both possible pluses as well as longer afternoons with natural light as well as disadvantages, including darker mornings, harder commutes, and stress associated with shorter nights after the March change of time.
This is why the substance has been halfway between politics, logistics and everyday life for years. The EC recalls that 1 of the reasons for maintaining common rules was the request to synchronise the interior marketplace and avoid chaos between countries.
The GUM adds that without a joint EU-wide decision, it would be hard to change safely and coherently the basic component of authoritative time that affects transport, information systems, energy and trade.
