Service time counted again. The revolution is coming [ZASADY]

– Not including periods of employment under a mandate or sole proprietorship in the length of service is a real injustice. At the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy, we want equal opportunities in accessing workers’ rights, said Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk during the last session of the Sejm.

As stated in the justification for the project, in the current legal situation there are no uniform rules for determining seniority for the purposes of determining all workers’ rights arising from the employment relationship and access to specific positions.

“The lack of generally applicable regulations on the principles for determining seniority raises significant doubts in practice and, in many cases, leads employers to determine seniority solely on the basis of periods of employment based on employment and service relationships. It should be noted that in the current realities of the labour market in Poland, work of the same type is carried out on the basis of different legal relations and in different forms, which often results directly from legal provisions. (for example, a legal consultant can exercise his profession in an employment relationship, civil law relationships, management of an individual company or as a partner in a partnership)”, explains the ministry.

How will seniority be calculated after the change in regulations?

The Ministry has drawn up regulations that expand the list of periods of professional activity that will be included in the length of service. These, as we read on the Ministry’s website, include:

• periods of non-agricultural activity;
• periods of cooperation with the person running the business;
• the period of suspension of business activity of a person who runs a non-agricultural business to provide personal care for a child;
• periods of execution of the mandate or service provision contractagency contract and period of stay as a collaborator;
• period of stay as a member of an agricultural production cooperative and an agricultural means cooperative;
• the draft stipulates that seniority will include certain periods of non-subjectness to social security provided for in specific provisions, which are related to the performance of work or activity that generally constitutes a right to social security (for example, the performance of work under a service contract by secondary school students or students up to the age of 26).

How will you need to document your work experience? As stated in the essence of the solutions provided for in the project, it was assumed that the periods mentioned will be proven by a certificate issued by the Social Security Institution, the object of which will be the subject of social security in the aforementioned titles or not, being subject to social security in the cases provided for in specific regulations.

Service time recalculated – from when?

As indicated by the Ministry of Labor, it is assumed that the current regulations that provide for new rules for calculating service time will be implemented. were in force from January 1, 2026. The aim of the new regulations is to provide wider access to longer holiday leave, jubilee bonuses and traineeship allowances.

Currently, the term of office contract or the period of management of a company are not included in the length of service.