Employment law

Our Polish team of employment attorneys is distinguished with number of international awards and particularly recognized for labour law advisory to foreign investors.

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We have more than 30 years of experience in employment and labour law advisory.

Employment practices consist of over five attorneys and almost thirty HR experts (DPG) fully dedicated to counseling to domestic entrepreneurs and foreign investors in Poland.

Employment & labor counsels for foreign investors

Foreign corporations doing business in Poland are very often surprised by level of distinctions of Polish labor and employment law environment. Our labor attorneys have decades of experience in navigating foreign corporations thought labor aspects in M&A transaction on Polish market, incl.:

employment due diligence,
transfer of employment undertaking,
post transaction HR restructuring;

as well as establishment of brand new employment undertakings, incl.:

understanding employment forms, cost and taxes,
introduction of employment templates and procedures,
introduction of employment handbooks and manuals,
advisory regarding HR & benefits policies,
establishment of labor structures.

Full list of services may be found in below (Section: What do we do? ).

Recognized and awarded Labor Law Firm

Employment team is continuously awarded and distinguished by international rating agencies. For M&A and achievements we were selected as Law Firm in Spotlight in Poland by Legal500 in 2019 and 2021. In 2016 we were selected as M&A Law Firm of the Year by Acquisition International Magazine. Complete list of awards and distinctions may be found below.

HR & employment one stop shop in Poland

We are HR & employment one stop shop in Poland. While – as Legal Counsels we provide labor and employment and advisory and representation – as our affiliated company DPG Payroll & Accounting – operates as PEO (Professional Employment Organization) and provides payroll and HR services for employers in Poland.

Employment publications and newsletters

Our employment team prepared a practical guide for foreign investors: Employment and labour law in Poland. We also keep our customers updated regarding developments of Polish via alerts and labor law newsletters.

Labor legal services in Warsaw and Kraków

We provide employment and labor legal services all around Poland thought all five offices, incl. Warsaw and Kraków.

What we do?

Day to day advisory regarding Polish labour law

Our team of employment attorneys provides day to day support and employment law advisory to HR department of our clients, this includes as an example:

answers to individual employment law questions
representation in labour inspection audits and controls
updates on changes and developments of Polish Labour Law
preparation of employment law newsletters and alerts
advisory as to daily issues regarding working time, breaks, holidays, allowances, warnings, terminations, grievance, delegations, benefits, tax and social security contributions, etc.

Contracts in employment

Throughout years of experience our employment lawyers developed number of templates that are used in process of employment in Poland. We provide to our customers the complete set of employment law template contacts. All the contracts are bilingual (Polish and English). They serve as great help in the process of recruitment, contact execution, on-boarding and termination of employment relationship with employees. Our labour law experts draft bespoken agreements:

employment contracts, amendments and anexes to employment
contacts alternative engagement contracts
contacts of mandate, service contacts, tasks and project contacts
confidentiality contracts, non-compete contracts,
training contact, delegation contacts, property liability contacts
contracts in H&S – Health and Safety
medical check obligations contracts
contracts in pension schemes
PPK (Employee Capital Plans) related contacts
contracts on overtaking social security obligations
contracts between employers (e.g. transfer between entities), etc.

Labor litigation

As a part of dispute resolution practice our labour law experts:

advise in employment disputes in Poland
represent in employment litigations
represent in out of court negotiations and mediations
represent before labor courts in Poland
represent and advise in disputes for unjust terminations, damages, severance, remuneration, bonus, mobbing or discrimination
advise and represent in disputes with labour authorities, e.g. with National Employment Inspectorate (PIP), Social Security Agency (ZUS) or National Fund of Health (NFZ)

Labour law advisory in business establishment, investments and expansion

As a foreign investments orientated Law Firm we have particular experience in providing comprehensive employment advisory in business establishment in Poland., Our services include:

advisory as to forms and models of employment, costs of employment, designing HR structures, shifts schemes etc.
designing and introducing templates of employment documents and internal employment compliance procedures, incl. employment handbooks, work T&C, remuneration T&C, etc.
advisory and assistance in establishment of internal employment bodies (structures), e.g. employee representation bodies, employee councils.

Labour advisory in M&A transactions

Along with M&A attorneys, our labour law experts advise in employment aspects of merger and acquisition transactions in Poland, in particular we provide the following legal services:

labour law due diligence – focused on identifying employment risks in target companies as well as risks that may arise as a consequence of transaction closing (e.g. post-merger pay discrimination),
advise and assistance in execution of post-transaction restructuration or adaptation programs,
advise and execute transfers of organized employment units.

Employment termination and collective redundancies

We provide legal services related employment termination and redundancy in Poland, in particular:

advise and represent in individual employment termination
design strategies and represent in collective redundancies
evaluate risks regarding termination / redundancies
provide recommendations regarding termination / redundancies
draft termination letters, redundancy rules and strategies
represent / assist in the redundancy processes
represent in redundancy litigations
advise in employment termination disputes

Immigration in employment

Our immigration lawyers work closely the employment team regarding:

advisory on residence and work permits for foreigners in Poland
advisory on simplified routes of foreigners employment
representation in legalization of employment of foreigners
representation before immigration authorities in Poland

Advisory as to forms of employment of the managing staff

advisory as to legal forms of management employment
advisory as to management tax and social security
drafting employment contracts for directors
drafting service contracts, management contracts
drafting ancillary contracts – NDA /confidentiality
drafting non-competition clauses for senior staff
drafting director appointment resolutions
drafting corporate director remuneration resolutions

IP and copyrights in employment

Our team has extensive experience in employment advisory to software development, IT and TMT industry, technology companies. Our services cover:

advisory as to safety of IP and copyrights acquisition by the employers,
designing introducing safety procedures and confidentiality related documents
advisory as to protection of copyrights and IP from infringements by the employees
advisory as to tax benefits for copyrights creators and advisory on IP Box benefits

Collective labour law

Advisory in collective labour law
Advisory and negotiating of collective labour agreements
Representation in relationships with trade unions
Advisory and representation in collective disputes
Advisory and representation in collective redundancies

Tax and social security of employees

advisory in taxation of employers and employees
advisory on social security contributions
advisory regarding benefits, incl. mandatory schemes
representation in tax and social security inspections
representation in disputes with tax and social security authorities
advisory on tax optimization in employment

Capital and pension programs

introduction of PPK / PPE pension programs
negotiating PPK management contracts
Introducing PPK / PPE procedures / documents
PPK and PPE guidebooks and training for HR departments

Health & Safety in employment

advisory regarding health & safety obligations
representation before H&S authorities
drafting health & safety procedures
drafting health and safety documentation

Investigations and crisis management

Advisory and crisis management in the event of:
- employment accidents
- employment data protection leaks
- criminal acts at workplace
- strikes at workplace
- critical safety / confidentiality breaches
- critical IP leaks
- management disputes
defense in employment related criminal cases, e.g. employment accidents, H&S breach cases
advisory to directors and crisis management in criminal accidents at the workplace
advisory as to insurance for administrative and criminal risks related to employers obligations

Data protection in employment

data protection due diligence in employment units
introducing GDPR safety procedures in employment units
drafting GDPR required documentation in employment units
day to day advisory on data protection in employment,
drafting and negotiating data protection contracts in employment law
advisory regarding processing and administering of employees data by third parties