Poland’s labour law reform set to reshape B2B employment practices

The Polish legal member of MSI, WBW Weremczuk Bobel & Partners, explains how the amendment to the Polish Act on the National Labour Inspectorate will affect the Polish labour market in the context of engaging human resources under civil law contracts, and in particular on a B2B self-employment basis.

The primary legal form used in Poland to employ employees is an employment contract. However, for many years the Polish labour market has featured an alternative attractive to both employees and employers in the form of establishing B2B cooperation with a contractor who performs assigned tasks as part of their own self-employment activity. The most important factor determining the choice of this form of cooperation is the lower public-law burden associated with reduced social security contributions, and thus lower employment costs on the employer’s side and higher remuneration on the employee’s side, combined with the possibility for the employee to deduct tax-deductible costs. On the other hand, cooperation based on a civil law contract is not subject to the requirements of the Polish Labour Code, which on the one hand reduces formalities, but on the other provides the employee with less legal protection compared to an employment contract.

Legislative work in the Polish Parliament

The above circumstances led, from the beginning of 2025, to widely discussed legislative work within the Polish Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy on amending the provisions concerning the National Labour Inspectorate. The proposed changes were intended to grant this administrative authority specific powers enabling it to reclassify a civil law contract into an employment contract in a binding manner, where in the authority’s view the legal relationship between the contractor and the ordering party displayed the characteristics of an employment relationship. After lengthy and complex legislative work, the Act was adopted by the Polish Parliament in March of this year, and at the beginning of April it was signed by the President. This means that the new regulations are likely to enter into force at the beginning of July 2026.

Existing regulations

The issue of reclassifying civil law contracts as employment contracts is not new on the Polish labour market. Existing regulations have already allowed the National Labour Inspectorate to carry out inspections of employment practices in workplaces. Where it was identified that an employer was in fact employing employees under conditions characteristic of an employment relationship, but using standard civil law contracts not governed by labour law, the authority could impose a fine for a offence and file a claim with the labour court seeking a declaration that an employment relationship existed in a given case. However, this solution was time-consuming, complex and in practice significantly hindered the effective transformation of civil law contracts into employment contracts.

The power of a labour inspector to independently determine the existence of an employment relationship

The most significant change introduced by the new regulations is the power granted to labour inspectors of the National Labour Inspectorate to issue decisions under which the inspector independently (without a court ruling) determines that a given legal relationship constitutes an employment relationship. As a consequence, such an administrative decision will directly produce legal effects, such as subjecting the employment relationship to social security contributions and employee protection.

A condition for issuing a decision by a labour inspector to transform a civil law contract into an employment contract will be the prior issuance to the employer of an order to remedy the irregularity voluntarily by concluding an employment contract with the employee in place of the existing civil law contract. If the employer complies with the order, the Labour Inspectorate will not be able to issue a reclassification decision.

The classification of a civil law contract as an employment contract by the National Labour Inspectorate will only have effect for the future, and therefore will not entail, for example, an obligation to pay outstanding social security contributions. However, this does not preclude recourse to the courts to establish that the relationship between the employer and the employee had previously also been, in substance, an employment relationship with all resulting consequences (in particular the determination of due social security contributions). For this purpose, it will be necessary to bring a separate claim before the competent labour court under the existing rules.

Appeal to the labour court

In the event that a labour inspector issues a decision reclassifying a civil law contract as an employment contract, both the employer and the employee will have the right to appeal to the labour court. The decision of the National Labour Inspectorate will become binding only upon a final and non-appealable judgment of the labour court upholding it.

During the proceedings before the labour court, it will be possible to apply for interim relief consisting in the fact that, during the proceedings, the contract between the employee and the employer may be amended or terminated only in accordance with the provisions of labour law. This ensures additional protection for the employee prior to the decision of the labour inspector becoming final.

Increase in financial penalties and exemption from liability

Another change introduced is the increase in fines for offences related to the use by an employer of a civil law contract instead of an employment contract. Following the entry into force of the Act, financial penalties may amount to as much as PLN 60,000 or PLN 90,000, depending on the type of offence.

An employer will be exempt from liability for the described offence if, within 12 months from the entry into force of the Act, such employer remedy the breach by concluding a proper employment contract with the employee in place of the civil law contract.

Engaging human resources on a B2B basis: what should be borne in mind?

The described legislative changes do not mean that the use of civil law contracts, including those based on B2B cooperation, is prohibited on the Polish labour market. The essence of the matter is to avoid using civil law contracts in factual situations which, in reality, constitute a classic employment relationship. It is often the case that the nature of the relationship with a contractor and the type of tasks assigned justify the use of a civil law relationship rather than an employment relationship, and the contractor is not in fact an employee and should not be subject to the same rules as a standard employee.

The factors to be considered when assessing whether a given situation should be classified as employment requiring an employment contract include:

• subordination to the employer, in particular whether the contractor has autonomy in performing the assigned tasks;
• working time and place, in particular whether the contractor is required to perform tasks at the employer’s premises and whether they must observe fixed working hours;
• employee entitlements, in particular whether the agreement with the contractor in practice grants them the same rights as those enjoyed by an employee (e.g. the right to paid annual leave).

Final conclusions

The new provisions of the Act on the National Labour Inspectorate should certainly prompt companies using human resources in Poland to review their employment models. Where civil law contracts are used instead of employment contracts, it is necessary to verify whether there is a risk of such contracts being classified as employment contracts.

In order to carry out such a review, the support of specialised labour law practitioners will be essential. Should you have any doubts, WBW Weremczuk Bobel & Partners, as a legal member of MSI, will be pleased to assist you in this regard.