Monday, 21 July 2025
Significant changes to Poland’s employment landscape are set to take effect in January 2026, with new regulations poised to redefine how work experience is calculated for millions of workers. The reform will extend seniority recognition to up to five million people, including those who previously worked under civil law contracts or operated as sole proprietors.
Experts from Personnel Service have analyzed the impact of the upcoming changes and highlighted several challenges facing employers and human resources departments. These include the need to review historical employment records and to update HR and payroll systems. For many workers, however, the changes offer an opportunity to reclaim years of work experience previously excluded from formal employment histories and to qualify for new employment benefits.
A report by the Ministry of Finance titled “Selected Aspects of Business Activity for 2019” indicates that sole proprietorships (JDG) remain the most popular form of business in Poland, accounting for over 80 percent of all business activities. At the end of September 2024, more than 2.4 million people in Poland were engaged under civil law contracts, with nearly half of them combining this work with other forms of professional activity.
According to Krzysztof Inglot, labour market expert and founder of Personnel Service, the reform represents a significant step toward equalizing employment rights. For many years, workers employed through civil law contracts or as sole proprietors lacked certain benefits, such as longer annual leave or severance pay. The new rules will allow them to have these years of work recognized, effectively recovering time that had previously gone uncounted.
The upcoming changes could allow many employees to surpass the critical threshold of ten years of professional experience, making them eligible for 26 days of paid annual leave. The revised rules might also affect notice periods and entitlements to benefits like severance payments during individual or group layoffs.
Beyond financial implications, the reform is expected to expand professional opportunities for individuals who have not met the experience requirements for positions in public administration or state institutions. The ability to document previous work periods outside of traditional employment contracts could grant more candidates access to recruitment processes that were once restricted to those with formally documented full-time work histories.
For employers, the new regulations signal a period of considerable organizational change. HR departments will need to begin auditing past employment records to identify workers who might now qualify for seniority recognition. Companies will also need to adapt their HR and payroll systems to accommodate the additional data and implement procedures for verifying documents submitted by employees. Training staff responsible for managing these processes and developing internal communications to inform employees will be essential.
The reform may also result in higher labour costs, not only because of potential increases in holiday entitlements or severance pay but also due to the administrative burden associated with processing claims for previously uncounted work periods. Employers will need to factor these changes into recruitment processes, particularly in cases where seniority influences eligibility for roles or determines pay scales and job levels. Many organizations will be required to adjust their existing operational standards to reflect the new legal framework.
Krzysztof Inglot emphasized that although the changes present significant challenges for employers, early preparation will be key to avoiding disruption when the regulations take effect. He suggested viewing the reforms as an opportunity for businesses to streamline processes, enhance transparency, and strengthen workplace culture, benefiting both employees and employers in the long term.
Source: Personnel Service
