The changing regulation of normal working time

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Poland's legislation on normal daily and weekly working time has been subject to amendment and liberalisation over 2002-3. Monitoring by the State Labour Inspection has found that many employers breach the law in this area, notably by not giving employees the time off and compensation to which they are entitled.

Polish working time legislation currently provides for a normal working day not exceeding eight hours and a normal working week not exceeding 40 hours, distributed across five days. The normal working week has been reduced progressively in recent years, from 42 hours in 2001 to 41 hours in 2002 and 40 hours in 2003. These norms should be respected on average within a reference period - this period should generally not exceed three months, but legal amendments in 2003 allow it to be as long as six months in particular industries, such as construction. These averaging provisions mean that in specific weeks, employees may be asked to work more than 40 hours provided that their working time is reduced proportionally in other weeks during the reference period. Averaging also opens the possibility of six-day working weeks, provided that the employee in question works less in other weeks. Employers are obliged to draw up a working time schedule for their employees.

In essence, these regulations mean that working time can be adjusted at will as long as the average norms are not exceeded. However there is an exception for workers with disabilities. A disabled employee may not work more than eight hours a day and or 40 hours a week. A person whose disability is severe or moderately severe may not work more than seven hours a day and 35 hours a week. However, the general working time norms apply to disabled people employed as guards or wardens and to those who hold doctor’s certificates attesting that exceeding the special lower norms will not be detrimental to their health. Under the relevant legislation, employees whose working time has been shortened because they are classified as disabled may not have their remuneration reduced.

Taking into account the provisions on normal working time, statutory days off - ie Sundays and public holidays - and other related factors produces a 'normalised' monthly working time. In 2002, this was shortest in November, when employees would normally have worked only 19 days (ie 155 hours and 48 minutes). In February, May, and December, the normalised working time was 20 days (164 hours); in March, April, June, August, and September, 21 days (ie 172 hours and 12 minutes); in January 22 days; and in July and October 23 days.

All the above rules apply to those employees whose working time is regulated by the Labour Code. Notable exceptions from this category include local government workers and employees of state administration bodies.

Observance of statutory provisions

According to the findings of monitoring of employers' observance of working time legislation carried out by the State Labour Inspection (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy, PIP) in 2002 one of the main problems was violation of the rules on the average five-day working week, particularly in the form of improper formulation of working schedules. PIP found that:

• 37% of the employers inspected had not given their employees the time off due to them under the five-day average working week system; and

• one in three employers had not provided compensation (in the form of days off or a cash equivalent) for work performed on days regarded as days off under the five-day average working week system.

Other notable problems included the following:

• one in five employers was found to demand work over the permissible daily and/or annual overtime limits - four hours and 180 hours respectively in 2002; and

• one in five employers breached the rules governing work on Sundays and public holidays by not providing a day off in compensation, while one in five did not guarantee every third Sunday off work, as required by law.

According to the PIP findings, while the incidence of violations relating to the five-day average working week system was higher in 2002 than in previous years, there were fewer problems with excessive working time (either excessive overtime or work on Sundays and holidays without due compensation). It was also noted that the scale of these problems cannot be analysed in as much detail as desirable, because of documentation improprieties on the part of employers; 18% of the employers inspected did not record working time at all, and 34% did so in a defective fashion.

Actual working time

According to data from the Central Statistical Office of Poland (Główny Urząd Statystyczny, GUS), Polish employees worked an average of 39.9 hours per week in 2002. The average amount of time worked varied from quarter to quarter. The highest average weekly working time was recorded in the third quarter of the year (the summer holiday period), at 41.8 hours. The shortest average weekly working time was recorded in the fourth quarter, at 38.8 hours. Average weekly working hours in the private sector far exceeded those in the public sector - for example, in the second quarter of 2002, the difference amounted to almost four hours, with an average of 41.5 hours per week in the private sector and 37.7 hours in the public sector. In sectoral terms, healthcare and education had the shortest average weekly working time, while transport, commerce, and repairs had the longest average hours. Construction workers had among the lowest weekly hours in the first quarter of 2002 but, in the remaining three quarters, construction was among the sectors with the highest weekly hours.

The GUS data cover all employee categories, including those whose working time is regulated by legislative acts other than the Labour Code provisions described above

Liberalisation over 2002-3

July 2002 amendments to the Labour Code (PL0209107F) - which came into force in stages in November 2002 (PL0212108F), January 2003 and July 2003 (PL0306101N) - changed a number of working time regulations. These overall aims of the amendments were to cut labour costs, make employment relations more flexible, and reduce the administrative burden on employers. In terms of working time, the main change was to allow an extended reference period of six months for averaging working time in specific industries, such as construction (see above). The rationale is to help employers manage working time more flexibly, especially in these industries where temporary fluctuations in the economic situation or seasonal changes occur. The revised Labour Code also made changes to the regulations on annual leave and granted exemptions for some employers from the duty to document working time. Furthermore, from January 2003 a new, uniform premium pay rate of 50% of the basic wage applies to all overtime work - under the previous rules, overtime at night and on Sundays and public holidays attracted a premium of 100%, while the premium for overtime during the week was 50% for the first two hours and 100% thereafter.

Commentary

As the transformation of the Polish economy progresses, the structure and amount of working time has been undergoing significant change. Increased competition and technological innovations have led to a reduction in working time, accompanied by greater flexibility. While this trend is widespread across many countries, it is particularly manifest in countries such as Poland, where economic change has been considerably more drastic than that which has affected the developed market economies. In this context, there has been a tendency for the legislation on normal working time to be liberalised progressively over recent years. The authors of these legislative changes stress that they are necessary for the correct operation of the economy and for the fostering of conditions propitious to the development of entrepreneurship. The findings of the State Labour Inspection, however, suggest that some employers have been abusing these new liberties . These realities, however, have not prevented further liberalisation of the laws regulating working time. The general effect of these changes for employees has been negative, and the amendments have largely been 'employer-friendly'. Some concern also arises with regard to the respect of the working time legislation by employers and the possibility for their effective enforcement; it would appear that, despite the changes to their benefit, employers are still looking for ways to increase their room for manoeuvre, and not always legal ones. (Rafał Towalski, Warsaw School of Economy [Szkoła Główna Handlowa, SGH] and Institute of Public Affairs [Instytut Spraw Publicznych, ISP])