Pregnant women
Polish law protects pregnant women in an employment relationship. The most important rights of pregnant women include:
- Protection from dismissal (Article 177 of the Labour Code), As a general rule, an employer may not terminate the employment contract of a pregnant woman until the end of her maternity or parental leave. This rule does not apply to contracts for a trial period not exceeding one month or to temporary replacement contracts. An employment contract concluded for a fixed term or for a trial period exceeding one month, which would terminate after the end of the third month of pregnancy, shall be extended until the date of delivery. The prohibition of termination shall not apply when there are circumstances justifying termination of the employment contract without notice due to the fault of the employee,
- Exemption for medical examinations related to pregnancy, if they cannot be performed outside working time (Article 185 § 2 of the Labour Code),
- Prohibition of night work and overtime (Art. 178 § 1. of the Labour Code),
- Prohibition of delegation outside the fixed place of work, and of intermittent work, unless the pregnant woman agrees (Art. 178. § 1. of the Labour Code),
- Prohibition of strenuous, dangerous or harmful to health work. (Art. 176. of the Labour Code). The relevant implementing regulations specify the types of prohibited work (for example, manual lifting and carrying of objects weighing more than 3 kg, or work that poses a risk of infection with various viruses,
- Remote work facilities – the employer must grant a pregnant woman’s request to work remotely, unless it is not possible due to the organisation of work or the type of work performed by the employee (Article 6719 § 6 of the Labour Code),
Rights of mothers who are breastfeeding a child
- Women who are breastfeeding a child shall not perform work that is strenuous, hazardous, or harmful to health and that may adversely affect their health or the breastfeeding of their child. (Article 176 of the Labour Code). Specific regulations specify the list of works that are prohibited,
- The right to two half-hour breaks, included in working time, for breastfeeding a child. They may be granted together, at the request of the employee. If a female employee feeds more than one child, each break is 45 minutes long. (Article 187 § 1 of the Labour Code),
Mothers and fathers of children (biological or adopted)
Polish law provides a number of entitlements for employees who are parents. The rights described below relate to the most common situations, that is, the rights of parents to their biological children. The provisions of the Labour Code also provide appropriate arrangements for employees who have adopted a child, or who have adopted a child as a foster family. Additional entitlements are also available to parents of seriously ill or disabled children.
- The most important rights of parents at work:
- An employee raising a child until the child is 8 years old may not be employed without the child’s consent for overtime, intermittent working hours, night work, or posted outside the permanent workplace (Article 178 § 2 of the Labour Code),
- Facilitating remote work – the employer must grant a pregnant woman’s request to work remotely, unless this is not possible due to the organisation of work or the type of work performed by the employee (Article 6719 6 of the Labour Code),
- An additional 2 days (or 16 hours) of leave per calendar year (for both parents combined), with pay, is granted to parents of children under 14 years of age (Article 188 of the Civil Code),
- Additional leave – maternity, paternity, and parental leave. They are described in the Working hours, breaks and vacations tab,
- Care allowance (applies not only to parents). For information on care allowance, see the Care allowance tab,
Information current as of: .
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