The government plans to importantly change the way the State Labour Inspection (PIP) conducts its control, which can revolutionise the Polish labour market. The fresh rules, which will enter into force in 2024, aim to increase the effectiveness of control activities and improve compliance with labour law. What changes in the fresh law? What are the consequences?
Key Changes to the Amendment of the PIP Act
The Sejm is working on a revision of the State Labour Inspection Act, which aims to simplify control procedures and increase their effectiveness. These are the most crucial changes that may affect the way the controls are carried out:
- Abolition of the Authorisation Requirement: PIP inspectors will be able to carry out checks, showing only the service card, without the request for peculiar authorisation. This amendment aims to simplify procedures and reduce bureaucracy, which, according to Marcin Stanecki, the Chief Labour Inspector, will let a faster consequence to reports of violations of labour law.
- Changes to the Business Law: The draft amendment provides for the exclusion of PIP controls from the provisions limiting control activities towards companies. In this way, inspectors will be able to respond more rapidly to reporting infringements and enforce labour law more effectively.
Potential Effects of Change
The fresh regulations may affect the frequency and manner of inspections in Polish companies. Here are any key aspects:
- More frequent and more amazing Checks: Employers can anticipate more frequent checks to take place at any time of day or night. specified changes aim to guarantee better protection of workers' rights and more fast intervention in the event of infringements.
- Improving the Protection of Workers' Rights: The fresh rules can aid to better defend workers, enabling them to respond more rapidly to violations of labour law and to improve working conditions.
- Employers' concerns: Employers' organisations are afraid about possible abuses and increases in costs associated with more frequent checks. The trade unions, on the another hand, support changes, hoping to improve working conditions and respect workers' rights.
Comparison with EU Practices
Changes in Poland are a consequence to practices in another countries of the European Union, where labour inspectors frequently have extended powers to carry out checks without notice. For example:
- Germany and Spain: Inspectors have the right to carry out checks without prior notice, which allows an effective consequence to violations of labour law.
- France: In any countries, specified as France, more restrictive control rules are applied, which can defend businesses from excessive State interference, but besides reduce the velocity of consequence to violations of labour rights.
Plans for 2024 Year
In 2024 the State Inspection Work plans to carry out about 60 000 inspections and to cover at least 35 000 operators with preventive and promotional measures. Priorities for the coming year are:
- Control of the Construction Sector
- Monitoring Chemical Threats
- Increased supervision of workplaces
PIP inspectors will besides focus on the control of working time, holidays, social benefits fund and renewable energy and scrap metallic processing industries.
The fresh rules aim at improving control activities, improving the effectiveness of labour law enforcement and improving the protection of workers' rights. Although changes give emergence to different reactions, their aim is to adapt the Polish control model to the standards in force in the European Union and improve working conditions in Poland.
More here:
New Control Law: Labour Inspection Will Have Greater Powers and Changes in 2024
