Firms rush to fix time-tracking rules ahead of Labour Inspectorate checks

In brief

• Polish employers are reviewing working-time arrangements before planned Labour Inspectorate checks.
• Task-based working time is often not applied in practice, exposing firms to fines of up to 60,000 zloty.
• Overtime claims could cost companies hundreds of thousands of zloty, exceeding the penalties.

Employers scramble before inspections

Reform of the State Labour Inspectorate (PIP) has pushed employers into urgent reviews of how they organise working time, according to the Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily (Koniec fikcji w zadaniowym czasie pracy. Przed kontrolami PIP firmy korygują błędy – gazetaprawna.pl). Lawyers report that firms are now comparing employment contracts with what actually happens on the shop floor (Praca zadaniowa tylko na papierze? Firmy szykują się na kontrole – money.pl).

Task-based time under scrutiny

Task-based working time, which is meant to measure work by results rather than hours, is often used in practice without the required formal basis. Adviser Dagmara Leonik told the paper that the wider review of employment connected with the PIP reform is directing attention to how working time is organised. She added that employers are beginning to separate flexible working time from task-based working time, and that overtime can arise in the latter as well.

Financial exposure

Violations can bring fines of up to 60,000 zloty. Separately, claims for overtime pay may run into hundreds of thousands of zloty, the paper reported. For many firms, the back-pay risk is larger than the penalty itself.

What employers are doing

Companies are auditing job descriptions, time records and task allocation to check whether the arrangement matches the contract. Where a gap is found, firms are moving to correct it before an inspector arrives (Koniec fikcji w zadaniowym czasie pracy. Firmy korygują błędy – portalspozywczy.pl) („DGP”: Koniec fikcji w zadaniowym czasie pracy. Przed kontrolami PIP firmy korygują błędy – wnp.pl).

Read also

• Poland Launches Self-Audit Campaign on Employment Contract Classification